US President Donald Trump has redoubled his attack on TV host Jimmy Kimmel after Disney's ABC pulled the latter's show off the air.
ABC said yesterday that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be "pre-empted indefinitely", without giving further explanation.
It followed Kimmel addressing the fallout of the shooting of Trump ally Charlie Kirk on his show.
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Taking to Truth Social while on a state visit to the UK yesterday, Trump said it was "great news", while critics including former President Barack Obama have slammed it as an attack on free speech.
Speaking alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the PM's country home Chequers overnight, Trump doubled down when asked about the issue.
"Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else," Trump said.
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"And he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk.
"And Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. 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."
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According to US TV ratings analyst LateNighter, Kimmel's show in its timeslot was second only to Stephen Colbert's The Late Show – and even increased its audience in the key 18-year-old to 49-year-old demographic in the second quarter of the year.
Nor did Kimmel's comments address anything the controversial Kirk said or did directly. Rather, he accused the MAGA movement of political point-scoring over his death, and said they were "trying everything" to prove accused shooter Tyler Robinson was not aligned with them.
Robinson, who was raised in a conservative home with parents who are registered Republicans, supposedly started skewing politically leftward recently, according to what investigators have reported from family members.
At least two major owners of ABC-affiliated stations subsequently said they would preempt Kimmel's show, sparking speculation that the owners were trying to curry favor with the administration.
The local media conglomerates are each seeking mergers that would require administration approval.
Trump-appointed FCC head Brendan Carr said Kimmel's remarks constituted the "sickest conduct" and threatened to punish the ABC if it didn't take action.
With CNN.
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