OK folks: Last week, ABC took Jimmy Kimmel off the air for comments he made about MAGA on his late-night show — after their parent company faced clear retaliatory regulatory threats from the FCC (aka the Trump administration).
There was massive public backlash, and rightfully so. Even Joe Rogan — the reality TV host turned podcaster, who largely sees eye to eye with Trump — said the government shouldn’t be telling comedians what to say.
I believe his exact words were, “That’s f*****g crazy.” And I agree.
This isn’t cancel culture (though if it was, it’s wild that Republicans suddenly support it??). It’s state-sanctioned censorship. The President of the United States should know and respect that our First Amendment protects all speech, not just the things he wants to hear. But of course, he doesn’t.
Even as plenty of folks in the GOP insist that this situation had nothing to do with Trump or FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s threats, Trump himself repeatedly clarified that, actually, it has everything to do with it! When ABC reinstated Kimmel this week, Trump took to social media to whine about it — and, of course, to threaten them with a lawsuit.
And look, I’m glad Jimmy Kimmel is back on the air — but this isn’t just a one-off thing. It’s a painfully clear pattern. Just days ago, Pete Hegseth demanded that journalists sign a pledge to only report administration-approved information (even if it’s unclassified!)... or lose their Pentagon press credentials.
So, unless the news is favorable to the administration or handed directly to journalists by the government, it can’t be reported to the public?
Let’s be extremely clear: The press does not work for Donald Trump. If they did, we would no longer have a free press. We’d have state propaganda, just like anti-democratic, authoritarian regimes around the world.
Trump has attacked nearly every part of the First Amendment over the last nine months: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government for grievances.
These attacks destroy our democracy little by little. But we do have power here. What we’ve seen so much of from this administration isn’t just official action, but pressure campaigns and threats that way too many people — Members of Congress, business leaders, public figures — just choose to bow down to. That’s a problem.
We cannot preemptively forfeit our own First Amendment rights. We need to exercise them loudly, vigorously, and frequently.
Will you add your name right now to stand against Trump’s attacks on our fundamental American values and commit to continuing to speak out?
After you sign, please share this email with three friends to help build a strong coalition and keep folks engaged for the long haul!
Thanks for staying committed to this fight.
-Sara
