California Governor Gavin Newsom has called out the Trump administration for censorship “in real life” after ABC indefinitely pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had threatened to take away ABC’s broadcasting license over the comedian’s comments on the death of far-right activist Charlie Kirk on air.
ABC later announced on Wednesday that Jimmy Kimmel Live! “will be pre-empted indefinitely.”
Newsom posted to his personal X account on Wednesday with a shopping list of Republican actions he found troubling.
Gavin Newsom with Jimmy Kimmel. Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images
“Buying and controlling media platforms. Firing commentators. Canceling shows,” Newsom posted. “These aren’t coincidences. It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous. The @GOP does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time.”
Newsom followed up with a succinct post on X, stating “There is no such thing as free speech under Donald Trump’s reign.”
The Governor Newsom Press Office X account, which has spent the year trolling Donald Trump, also shared a post by CNN Media Analyst Brian Stelter.
Stelter shared a meme Carr sent him when he asked for a comment after ABC confirmed they were pulling Kimmel’s show–showing The Office stars Steve Carell as Michael and Rainn Wilson as Dwight making “raise the roof” gestures with their hands.
The Press Office account commented Kimmel being taken off air was “Corrupt, despicable, & spineless behavior. A coordinated effort to control the media is happening before our eyes & it needs to be called out.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also weighed in on the Kimmel cancellation, noting, “A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say.”
The Democrat continued on X, “This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand. All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.”
Pritzker also appeared on MSNBC’s The Briefing on Wednesday, saying the treatment of Kimmel was “intimidation, clearly.”
“They’re using the power of the government to go after businesses, to get them to do things they need or want. Here we have a comedian, I mean, this is somebody’s who’s on every night frankly he’s probably offending somebody every single night.”
When host Jen Psaki pointed out Kimmel had mocked Pritzker, he said “Indeed he has.”
“We should not be going after people for this,” he added. “Look, Did he get some things wrong? Yeah, but he’s not a commentator, a news anchor, this is somebody who’s a comedian for goodness’s sake.”
Pritzker continued, “Now we’ve got the Trump Administration literally targeting individuals. You saw it with Stephen Colbert, now you’re seeing it with Kimmel. Anybody that’s criticizing this administration they’re using the power of government to intimidate companies to fire people.”
Fox News’ liberal host Jessica Tarlov also reacted to the Kimmel news, posting “Free speech advocates on the right have a lot of heavy lifting to do.”
After posting the video between Carr and YouTuber Benny Johnson that flagged the FCC’s threats over Kimmel, Tarlov commented that it was “Project 2025 in full force.”