Jimmy Kimmel's return prompts new legal threat from President Trump
Jimmy Kimmel returns to air and Trump responds with new legal threat
Supporters of Jimmy Kimmel called his return from suspension a victory for free speech, but President Trump posted a legal threat on social media suggesting Trump could get millions of dollars by suing ABC for campaign finance violations. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's free speech litigation director says Trump's claim does not appear to have a strong legal foundation.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Jimmy Kimmel returned to his late night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", after a suspension imposed by ABC over his comments following the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Some fans celebrated it as a victory for free speech, but President Trump posted a new threat on social media saying he might take legal action and suggesting he could receive millions of dollars if he sued ABC.
Return from suspension
The backstory:
"It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," Kimmel said to the audience Tuesday night, his voice cracking with emotion.
ABC suspended Kimmel after FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr publicly called for ABC stations to not air Kimmel's show. Kimmel had made a remark about the political climate following Kirk's death, and sparked fiery opposition when he made a factually inaccurate comment about Kirk's alleged shooter.
"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 had said.
Investigators later indicated that the suspect had expressed opinions that were the opposite of his parents, who are registered Republicans and reportedly supporters of the Trump MAGA movement.
‘Not good enough’
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Kirk's organization, Turning Point, said Kimmel's comments upon his return to air Tuesday were "not good enough."
"What we need is 'I'm sorry. I lied. I was wrong, and I won't do it again," Kolvet said.
Aaron Mackey, the Free Speech and Transparency Litigation Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says Kirk's organization has a right to call for the error to be corrected.
"The right thing to do is to correct that mistake the same way like a newspaper or broadcaster would correct an error, and it's right for us to ask those questions and demand those corrections," Mackey said.
Free speech concerns
Mackey says the broader concern, however, is about whether President Trump is using his power and the power of his administration to suppress free speech.
In his social media post, the president suggested that he might file a lawsuit against Kimmel and ABC for a campaign finance violation.
Mackey says the suggestion does not have a solid legal foundation.
"Mr. Kimmel's commentary and opinions about anyone including the President of the United States is not a campaign contribution to someone who's going to run against Mr. Trump in a future election," Mackey said. "It's not a campaign finance violation."
Mackey says the threat of a lawsuit with the suggestion Trump could make money, is a concern.
"These are real and significant threats, to not only to ABC and Jimmy Kimmel, but to, more broadly, the commentary and criticism of the President of the United States," Mackey said.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Trump has a pattern of engaging in vexatious litigation that is aimed at extracting money from entities or using other regulatory levers to try to punish or retaliate against whether it's broadcasters or social media companies," Mackey said. "That in itself, is what in California we would call a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation or a SLAPP."
Kimmel still off air for some
Some broadcasters considered to be conservative, including Nexstar and Sinclair decided not to run Kimmel's program at their ABC affiliated stations.
Kimmel said during his show Tuesday that he had received support from Republicans and conservative activists.
"Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, even my old pal Ted Cruz," Kimmel quipped.
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Nexstar, Sinclair to keep Jimmy Kimmel off its ABC stations despite show reinstatement
Jimmy Kimmel will return to late-night television on Tuesday following a weeklong suspension that set off a national debate over free speech.