United States President, Donald Trump took to social Media to call Jimmy Kimmel an 'arm of the DNC' follwing ABC's decision to continue broadcasting Kimmel's late night television program, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”.
Trump accused Kimmel of "playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE," calling what he believed to be Kimmel's advocacy for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) a "major Illegal Campaign Contribution." Threatening to take legal action against ABC for airing the alleged "illegal Campaign Contribution," Trump stated that his administration would "test ABC out on this."
During his first night back on air this Tuesday, Kimmel shared his response to the suspension. "It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don't think there's anything funny about it," Kimmel told his audience.
"Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual - that was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make," he added.
Disney, parent company of ABC halted production of his show on September 17, two days after Kimmel said in his opening monolog that Trump's supporters were desperate to characterize Kirk's accused assassin "as anything other than one of them" and accused them of trying to "score political points" from his killing.
Major broadcast stations will not resume airing
Two major US broadcast station owners said they will not resume airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday on their ABC affiliates and will instead run other programming, after ABC parent Walt Disney said on Monday that it will resume broadcasting the late-night talk show.
Nexstar Media and Sinclair Broadcasting said they will not resume screening the show on their 70 owned and partner ABC stations, which are more than 25% of the roughly 250 ABC affiliates nationwide. The two companies reach about 23% of US households.
It is unclear how long the local broadcasters will shun the program. "Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return," Sinclair said.
ABC suspended Kimmel's show on September 17 over comments he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Hours before the suspension, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr warned that local broadcasters who aired Kimmel could face fines or loss of licenses and said "it's time for them to step up."
Democratic US Senator Elizabeth Warren blasted the decision and noted the FCC's role in approving transactions involving both companies. "This censorship of Kimmel reeks of corruption," Warren said.
Carr has praised Nexstar and Sinclair for deciding to stop airing the show. He has faced sharp criticism from Democrats and even some Republicans in Congress. Republican Senator Ted Cruz called Carr's comments "dangerous as hell."
Nexstar owns 23 ABC affiliates and has nine partner ABC affiliates and needs FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna.
Disney did not immediately comment.
Standing by decision
Nexstar said it stands by its decision to preempt Kimmel and that it will continue to preempt the show indefinitely. It said it will "monitor the show as it returns to ABC." It operates ABC stations in Salt Lake City, Utah; Nashville and New Orleans, among other markets.
Nexstar said the show will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products.
Sinclair Broadcasting said on Monday it does not plan to resume airing Kimmel's show on its 38 ABC affiliates and will instead air news programming, including on stations in Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Portland, Oregon.