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Barack Obama on Thursday condemned the Trump administration for its actions in the lead-up to Disney’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night comedy show, furthering the former president’s foray into the charged political climate in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing.
“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,” Obama wrote in a post on X on Thursday morning, about 15 hours after Disney announced it was suspending Kimmel.
The comedian came under fire from White House officials for comments he made during a Monday broadcast of his show that appeared to align Kirk's suspected killer with the MAGA movement.
Democrats have panned the comedian’s suspension, which came after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened consequences if the network failed to take action against the comedian in a Wednesday podcast with conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr told Johnson, threatening “additional work for the FCC.”
Key Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are now calling for the FCC chair's resignation.
“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it,” Obama wrote, linking to a New York Times report that detailed the Washington Post’s firing of Karen Attiah, a columnist who said she was let go for her social media activity following Kirk’s killing.
The White House and FCC both did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Obama’s comments.
At an event in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Obama himself mourned the loss of the Turning Point USA founder while making it clear that he disagrees with much of what Kirk stood for. And he faulted the current administration for the bleak state of American political discourse.
“When I hear not just our current president, but his aides, who have a history of calling political opponents vermin, enemies who need to be targeted, that speaks to a broader problem that we have right now,” Obama said.
English (US)