White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made an appearance on Fox News alongside host Kayleigh McEnany on Saturday where she made a cutting comment about former President Barack Obama’s remarks on ABC’s decision to suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely.
Taking to X, Obama wrote, ”After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.”
After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like. https://t.co/uts7JpJZzN
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 18, 2025
In a follow-up post, he added: “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”
Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was taken off the air indefinitely after a wave of conservative outrage over remarks about how MAGA supporters reacted to right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s shooting, made during Monday’s monologue.
The move came after FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened licensing action.
This wasn’t Carr’s first move against ABC. NPR said he earlier pushed for a review of the network and stood behind Trump’s lawsuits against ABC and CBS, which cost their parent companies $16 million apiece.
President Donald Trump praised the decision ABC made regarding Kimmel’s show.
Speaking of Obama’s remarks, Leavitt told host Kayleigh McEnany , “With all due respect to former President Obama, he has no idea what he’s talking about.” She added that “The decision to fire Jimmy Kimmel and to cancel his show came from executives at ABC.”
Levitt further claimed that President Trump was not informed of the move until after it had been made and that it was her who broke the news to him during their visit to the UK.
According to Fox News, Levitt said that although he had nothing to do with the decision to cancel Kimmel’s show, the president was pleased with the decision, adding that ABC’s choice likely came down to business because Kimmel’s ratings were “in the gutter.”
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