Credit: Video Screenshot, "The View', ABCIt’s a pretty well-known fact that no love has been lost between Donald Trump and ABC. The president and the popular news network have been at odds, with the president frequently attacking the network and its journalists for the way they report on him. Earlier this year, ABC fired veteran White House reporter Terry Moran after Moran sent out — and quickly deleted — a tweet in which he called Mr. Trump and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller, calling them “world-class haters.”
Trump has also had issues with the women who host The View, longtime Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos, and, most recently, late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
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On Tuesday, September 16, ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl asked Trump about Attorney General Pam Bondi’s promise to “go after hate speech” in the wake of the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Karl noted that many of Mr. Trump’s supporters do not believe in “hate speech” and consider all speech “free speech.”
The White House press corps was left stunned when Trump told Karl he would “probably” go after ABC News.
“She’ll probably go after people like you, because you treat me so unfairly. You have a lot of hate in your heart. Maybe they will come after ABC. ABC paid me $16 million recently for a form of hate speech. Your company paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech, so maybe they will have to go after you.”
“Look, we want everything to be fair. It hasn’t been fair. And the radical left has done tremendous damage to the country, but we’re fixing it. We have right now the hottest country anywhere in the world. Remember, one year ago, our country was dead, and now Washington, D.C. is fixed and I fixed it!”
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Mr. Trump’s comments came one day before Disney and ABC announced that they were immediately pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air after comments Kimmel made about the Charlie Kirk shooting and Donald Trump.
The backlash against Disney has been swift and unrelenting, with the company being called out by the Producers Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, and former President Barack Obama. Even Disney stars, including Marisa Tomei and Tatiana Maslany have called for people to boycott Disney and cancel their Disney+ subscriptions.
On September 19, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner weighed in on the issue, calling out current Disney CEO Bob Iger and asking, “Where has all the leadership gone?
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Mr. Trump is not the only person in his administration to threaten ABC in recent days, either. After Jimmy Kimmel made his comments, Brendan Carr, head of the FCC, issued a thinly veiled threat to Bob Iger and Disney, saying they could do things “the easy way or the hard way.”
Even after Disney and ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Mr. Carr continued to issue threats. He said that the FCC is considering launching an investigation into The View for violating the equal opportunity rule. However, it should be noted that the equal opportunity rule only applies to news programs and not talk shows like The View, but exceptions can be made.
Disney has not commented on Kimmel’s suspension, but they are reportedly talking with him about a potential return, but no one is sure about what will happen if Mr. Kimmel chooses not to issue an apology.
What do you think about Donald Trump repeatedly threatening to “go after” networks he does not like? Do you think the FCC should threaten networks that do not speak favorably of Mr. Trump, or is that a direct violation of the First Amendment right to free speech? Do you think Disney and ABC should reinstate Jimmy Kimmel immediately? Let us know your thoughts about this messy situation in the comments below!