"It's become clear that Charlie Kirk is worth more to Trumpworld dead than he ever was alive. His fatal shooting last week in Utah has been used as a cudgel in an attempted purge of wrong-thinking liberals and leftists, anyone who dare not treat a hateful YouTuber's death with a supposed civility that Kirk himself never displayed. It has come for students, teachers, police officers, retail workers, newspaper columnists and reporters."
"ABC announced Wednesday night that it would pull Jimmy Kimmel Live from air indefinitely, under pressure from Donald Trump's appointed FCC chairman Brendan Carr, in reaction to a comment Kimmel made earlier in the week about the person accused of Kirk's murder. If you wanted to point out that this is a blatant and galling abuse of state power and pretty clearly in violation of long-settled First Amendment law, well, great-I promise you they don't care."
"The decision was made by Disney CEO Bob Iger and co-chairperson Dana Walden, according to the New York Times. Disney, which owns ABC, did not explain pulling Kimmel's show, but it came hours after Carr threatened action. In an appearance on plagiarist Benny Johnson's podcast released earlier in the day, the FCC head said that the commission, which oversees broadcast television and retains approval power over media mergers, has "remedies that we can look at" regarding Kimmel and Disney/ABC."
Charlie Kirk's fatal shooting in Utah has been seized by aligned political forces to pressure and punish those who do not publicly mourn him. ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live after FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened regulatory action, and Disney executives removed the show amid that pressure. Carr urged licensed broadcasters to preempt Kimmel, citing commission remedies and merger oversight authority. The episode illustrates a campaign to intimidate teachers, students, reporters, and others, and to enforce a narrower range of acceptable speech through state leverage and corporate acquiescence.
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