President Trump addressed ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel during a press conference Thursday with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, where he insisted that the late night host was suspended because of his “lack of talent.”
Kimmel was taken off the air indefinitely Wednesday, following comments in which he said that Trump and his supporters were trying “desperately” to characterize the shooter who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week as “anything other than one of them.” With that in mind, Trump and Starmer were asked Thursday whether free speech is under more threat in the U.K. or in America, in the wake of Kimmel’s suspension.
“Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk, and Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person,” Trump responded. “He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago, so, you know, you can call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”
Kimmel has not been fired, and sources close to the situation told TheWrap the intention is to bring him back on the air.
Starmer avoided commenting directly on Kimmel’s suspension. Instead, the prime minister reiterated the importance of free speech in both the U.S. and U.K. and expressed his horror over Kirk’s assassination. “Whatever our political views, it is shocking and is to be condemned,” Starmer said of the shooting.
You can watch the full exchange yourself in the video below.
Trump then got even more pointed on Air Force One afterwards. “When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do — if you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative one in years, or something — when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that,” the president said, according to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
His Thursday press conference with Starmer is not the only time Trump has acknowledged Kimmel’s suspension. The president also celebrated ABC’s decision on Truth Social Wednesday night.
“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” Trump wrote at the time. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”
Trump may be happy about Kimmel’s removal from the air, but the move has been widely denounced by other politicians and figures within the entertainment industry, including comedians Marc Maron and Patton Oswalt and former president Barack Obama.
