Several late night US TV show hosts have shown solidarity with the recently suspended ABC host Jimmy Kimmel.
This comes after Kimmel's show was suspended over he comments me made regarding the recent murder of Charlie Kirk.
Kirk was tragically shot dead while he was hosting his first event as part of his America Comeback Tour at Utah University Campus earlier this month (September 10).
Following this, Kimmel suggested during his Monday night monologue that all signs had pointed to the shooter being a Trump supporter.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterise this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it", he said.
Kimmel also went on to criticise the decision to fly the flags at half mast in Kirk's honour, considering the White House had largely ignored the school shootings which happened on September 10. He also aimed a dig at Trump for his reaction to Kirk's death.
“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a gold fish", Kimmel remarked.
The show was ultimately suspended by ABC indefinitely. after the channel's affiliate ABC, had said that they would be pre-empting it.
Speaking yesterday Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr told YouTuber Benny Johnson: “[This] appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into the narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or Republican-motivated person. What people don’t understand is that the broadcasters have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead".
Opening up their late-night shows, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Fallon and Stewart Colbert used a mixture humour and solidarity with Kimmel.
This decision was branded as "blatant censorship" by Stephen Colbert, while Fallon praised Kimmel and insisted that he will keep his show as usual, before an announcer spoke over him and replaced most of his criticism of Trump with flattery.
Meanwhile, Stewart opted for a more a satirical approach in his critique of Kimmel's suspension.
Speaking about Kimmel's suspension, Fallon opened his Tonight Show monologue, saying: "To be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on. And no-one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny and loving guy, and I hope he comes back".
Kimmel's supporters have also claimed that Brendan Carr has misconstrued what the host had said regarding the Kirk assassination. They said at no point did he suggest that Tyler Robinson, the man charged with Kirk's murder, was a conservative.
Speaking on board Air Force One as he flew to the UK, President Donald Trump had indicated that if any TV channels who give him bad press "maybe their licence should be taken away".
"I read someplace that the networks were 97% against me. I get 97% negative … and if they’re 97% against and they give me only bad publicity, press, and they’re getting a licence, I would think maybe their licence should be taken away", Trump said.
He also said of other late night shows: "All they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do" and described them as an "arm of the Democrat Party".
"If you go back and you see they haven’t had a conservative on in years, I think somebody said, when you go back take a look, all they do is hit Trump", he stated.
"They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that. They are an arm of the Democrat Party".
