Americans are frightened and disgusted by a rising tide of political violence. But don’t worry, says the White House. We’re all safer now that Jimmy Kimmel is off the air.
Different people will surely have different opinions of Kimmel’s comments regarding the tragic and despicable murder of Charlie Kirk. (Personally, I think it was somewhat irresponsible for Kimmel to spend less than a minute seeming to speculate on the shooter’s motives. I think it was somewhat more irresponsible for the president, vice president, and senior members of the administration to spend days indulging in similar speculation.)
But one clear sign that the specifics of Kimmel’s remarks are beside the point is that Donald Trump himself didn’t mention them. In his Truth Social victory lap celebrating Kimmel’s removal from the ABC lineup, the president ignored political violence entirely. Instead, he demanded that NBC follow Disney’s lead and fire Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon, two late-night hosts who have, even by the snowflake standards of right-wing culture warriors, said nothing controversial over the past week.
In other words, while Kirk’s murder was deplorable, the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Kimmel has nothing to do with preventing political violence.
It’s also about more than man with an ego as oversized and thin-skinned as a Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloon.
This is much more ambitious and sinister: It’s about silencing dissent and replacing it with state-approved content.
As it turns out, many of the conservative elites who spent decades complaining about west-coast liberals don’t want to destroy Hollywood. They want to control it.
Their plan might work. Even if Kimmel’s cancellation proves temporary, it seems likely that a chilling effect has already set in. Imagine you’re a writer pitching a drama where a character is a sympathetic asylum seeker. Or you’ve just come up with a sitcom B-story where a character develops an over-the-top, RFK-Jr.-level fondness for beef tallow and raw milk. There’s bound to be a quiet voice in your head asking, Is this worth it? Then are the louder voices – from agents, managers, and executives –who might be less concerned with whether an audience will like a story and more concerned about avoiding a government crackdown.
The reverse is true as well. Further demonstrating that Kimmel’s cancellation had nothing to do with preventing violence, Trump has now demanded that a network hire a conservative late-night host. (There is, of course, already a conservative late-night host: Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld. As it happens, he dedicated a five-minute segment to making fun of me earlier this year. Unlike the leader of the free world, my self-esteem remains intact.)
Other parts of the Trump administration’s offer-they-can’t-refuse are less explicit. But everyone knows the terms.. The networks and studios, and, more importantly, their parent companies, are well aware that greenlighting MAGA-friendly projects will grease the wheels with federal regulators. It’s not hard to imagine Apple TV picking up a right-wing show to influence trade policy, or Amazon Prime overspending on a documentary because Jeff Bezos thinks it will pave the way for more Blue Origin spaceflights.
But as dangerous as this moment is for free expression in America, the administration’s comedy culture war may prove more difficult to win than it thinks. After all, if suppressing the ideas of those with controversial views were easy, Donald Trump wouldn’t be president.
Right now, big media companies are feeling massive top-down economic pressure to bend to Trump. But consumers have economic power too – and already, many are cancelling Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions until Disney puts Kimmel back in its lineup. In trying to convince his Kimmel’s bosses to kick him off the air, FCC Chair Brendan Carr said, “We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.” But consumers, voting with their wallets, may prove that there is no easy way – the only real choice is between cowardly and courageous.
Even if the Trump campaign does succeed in bringing some of the biggest entertainment giants to heel, that doesn’t mean the talent they employee will simply disappear.
Ironically, one group of entertainers has already proven that small-scale media companies aren’t just better equipped to resist pressure campaigns, but are also highly profitable business ventures: comedians spurned by the liberal establishment.
Shane Gillis was fired as an SNL cast member for offensive comments, became a podcast superstar, and returned in triumph as a host last year. In 2022, Louis CK, still persona non grata on television after allegations of sexual misconduct, won a Grammy for a stand-up special he produced himself and sold directly to fans for $7.99. Then there’s the Joe Rogan cinematic universe, which became wildly popular—especially among young men—in part by positioning itself as the tell-it-like-it-is counterweight to corporate media and PC scolds. During the Biden years, there was a market for “anti-woke” comedy that wasn’t being addressed by the TV networks. That’s likely to be even more true for left-leaning comedy in the Trump era.
The Trump administration understands the power of independent media, and will no doubt try to control it, too. The news that MAGA loyalists may soon own TikTok should worry anyone interested in the free expression of ideas. But the point still stands: Even if he leaves network TV, Kimmel’s audience will be able to find him. And if being targeted by Trump turns him from establishment figure to underdog, that audience is likely to grow.
Especially if entertainers and comedians speak up quickly, and use their platforms strategically. It’s encouraging that comedians and stars—Mike Birbiglia, Wanda Sykes, Marc Maron, Jean Smart, Billy Eichner, and many others—rushed immediately and publicly to Kimmel’s defense. More celebrities should join them. And along with defending free speech, they should aggressively promote the talent and content that might otherwise fall victim to Trump’s right-wing cancel culture.
Finally, if you happen to be a leader of the less-than-wildy-popular Democratic Party, the Trump administration just gave you the perfect opportunity to reclaim the mantle of free speech. At a time when it seems like Americans can’t agree on anything, the First Amendment remains extremely popular. 77 percent of Americans say press freedom is important to society. When Attorney General Pam Bondi tried to suggest that the First Amendment doesn’t protect so-called “hate speech,” even Matt Walsh, a conservative media superstar, called for her firing.
It will be up to Democrats to walk the walk on free expression – and to acknowledge that, when it came to “deplatforming” those with odious views over the last several years, they sometimes came up short.
But if free speech ceases to be a rallying cry for Elon Musk and his fellow extremists, and instead becomes a signature issue of the anti-MAGA coalition, it will put Democrats on the right side of a winning issue. No less important, it will demonstrate that they’ve learned from some of their Biden-era mistakes.
You would think no one would understand the power of outsider appeal, or of being able to claim government persecution, more than a president whose mugshot hangs outside the Oval Office. But as he wages his culture war against comedians who dare to criticize him, it’s a lesson President Trump might find himself learning all over again.
The post Opinion: Crackdowns Can Backfire. President Mugshot Should Know appeared first on The Daily Beast.
