US President Donald Trump has proposed that some television networks need to “remove” their licenses, the BBC reported.
The statement came after pressure from the administration began to halt the ABC. The late-night television host commented on the suspected murder of Charlie Kirk, saying Trump supporters “sought to characterize this child as something other than them.”
Kimmel’s suspension following the threat of regulatory measures raised concerns that the Trump administration was trying to cut critics’ freedom of speech.
“This is blatant censorship,” Stephen Colbert told his rival CBS show. “A dictator cannot give you inches.”
In his monologue on Monday, Kimmel, 57, said in his monologue on Monday that the “Magagang” – a reference to Trump supporters who once again made America the election slogan, “we’re desperately trying to characterize this child who killed Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them,” and “we’ll score political points.”
Utah officials from which Kirk was killed say he is “indoctrinated as a leftist ideology.”
Kimmel also compared Trump’s reaction to the death of his 31-year-old political confidant to “the way a four-year-old child laments goldfish.”
Kimmel condemned the attack and sent “love” to the Kirks immediately after the shooting.
Trump told reporters on Air Force 1 on Thursday about the issue.
“I’ve read a few places where the network was 97% against me. Again, 97% are negative, but still I easily won (in last year’s election),” the president said.
“They give me only bad publicity (and) coverage. So they have licenses. I think they should remove their license.”