Politics

Donald Trump cheers after ABC pulls Kimmel off the air — and tells NBC to cancel its late-night hosts next

President Donald Trump boarding Air Force One, smiling and waving
President Donald Trump said other late-night shows should be canceled after ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday celebrated the news that ABC was pulling "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" off the air for comments the host made following Charlie Kirk's death — and he wants other late-night hosts to be next.

"Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that's possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT."

Trump appeared to be referencing the NBC late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.

The White House and a representative for NBC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump also referred to Stephen Colbert, whose late-night show on CBS was canceled in July. CBS said the cancellation was "purely a financial decision."

ABC, which is owned by Disney, confirmed to Business Insider earlier on Wednesday that it was pulling Kimmel off the air indefinitely. The decision came after the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, publicly condemned Kimmel's comments about Kirk, and after Nexstar, which owns ABC affiliate stations, said it would be pulling Kimmel.

Sinclair, which also owns ABC affiliate stations, said in a post on X that it had also informed ABC it would be pulling Kimmel.

The cancellation followed comments the late-night host made on Monday's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

"We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them," Kimmel said.

Democratic lawmakers were swift to condemn the cancellation on social media.

"Everybody across the political spectrum should be speaking out to stop what's happening to Jimmy Kimmel," Sen. Chuck Schumer wrote. Sens. Ed Markey and Adam Schiff also expressed outrage at the suspension.

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Kelsey Vlamis's face on gray background.
Kelsey Vlamis
Kelsey Vlamis is a senior reporter for Business Insider, where she covers business and tech news. She also writes business stories about travel, luxury, and culture. Previously, she covered the environment, outdoors, and indigenous issues.Her feature story "Disaster at 18,200 feet" received awards from the New York Press Club and the North American Travel Journalists Association, as well as honorable mention from the Society of American Travel Writers. She has also received an American Journalism Online Award for her coverage on missing and murdered Indigenous people in Wyoming.She's appeared on CBS, NPR, NBC, and other outlets to discuss her reporting. She previously worked on the world news desk at the BBC in London and received a master's in journalism from Northwestern University.She can be reached by email at kvlamis@bjinnox.com or via the encrypted-messaging app Signal at kelseyv.21.