Obama Torches MAGA After Jimmy Kimmel Pulled Off Air
The former president is imploring media companies to stand up to “government coercion”
Barack Obama criticizes what he considers “dangerous” hypocrisy from the White House.
In a message posted on X, the 44th president criticized ABC’s decision to indefinitely suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcast license during an interview.
Obama wrote: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken its broadcast license to a dangerous new level by regularly threatening regulatory action against media companies if they don’t muzzle or fire journalists and commentators it doesn’t like.”
The former president also published a piece on Vox titled “Let’s Be Clear About What Happened to Jimmy Kimmel.”
The article states that Kimmel, a renowned comedian, was suspended “because the Trump administration disliked his comments and threatened his employer to silence him.”
After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like. https://t.co/uts7JpJZzN
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 18, 2025
In another post, Obama criticized media companies for their deference to President Donald Trump and his administration. He wrote, “This is precisely the kind of government coercion the First Amendment was designed to prevent, and media companies should start opposing it instead of submitting to it.”
The former president also published an op-ed in The New York Times about the firing of veteran Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah.
Attia said last week that the Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper fired her for articles she published following the Charlie Kirk assassination.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Obama’s representatives for comment.
During an interview with conservative YouTuber Bennie Johnson, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr alleged that Kimmel intentionally spread false information about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Kirk shooter, by promoting a narrative that Robinson was a “MAGA man” or a Republican supporter.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. These companies can find ways to change their behavior and take explicit action against Kimmel, or face further action before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
This prompted Nexstar, owner of ABC’s U.S. affiliates, to pull Kimmel’s show. Andrew Alford, the company’s president of broadcasting, called the host’s remarks “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political debate.”
Kimmel’s comments, taken from a monologue aired Monday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” did not include an explicit description of Robinson as a MAGA supporter or a Republican.
In fact, Kimmel said, “We reached new heights this weekend, with the MAGA mob desperately trying to make the kid who murdered Charlie Kirk look like something else, and doing their best to profit politically from it.”
The monologue aired Monday night had since racked up 3.7 million views on YouTube as of Thursday morning.
Shortly after the announcement, Trump took to social media to celebrate the temporary hiatus of Kimmel’s show, calling it “great news for America.”
Trump wrote, “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what needed to be done. Kimmel is completely untalented and his ratings are worse than Colbert’s, if possible.” »
Other key figures in the MAGA movement praised ABC’s decision, with the White House’s rapid response official commenting on X.com: “They’re doing their viewers a favor. Jimmy is a monster!”
They’re doing their viewers a favor.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 17, 2025
Jimmy is a sick freak! pic.twitter.com/9QaetwiKfz
For his part, Obama has intensified his attacks on the Trump administration in recent months.
In August, he issued a stark warning on X.com about what he called a “dangerous trend” toward federalization and militarization of state and local law enforcement since Trump’s return to office in January.
This interview, which is also available to listen to as a podcast, provides a useful overview of some of the dangerous trends we’ve been seeing in recent months regarding federalization and militarization of state and local police functions. https://t.co/yWDXDwD7mZ
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 28, 2025
This followed a rare public rebuke in July, in which Obama condemned “the constant nonsense and misinformation coming out of the White House.”
