The Media Meets Its Maker

Jimmy Kimmel was not canceled by the FCC but by ABC, by us.

Make no mistake. The mainstream media — that financial powerhouse of broadcast and cable networks, big blue-city newspapers and left-wing magazines, who like to call themselves ‘legacy media,’ as if their legacy were a noble exercise in journalistic principles — they loaded the gun that killed Charlie Kirk.

For ten years they spewed hatred, they and their Democrat minders. They demonized conservatives, Christians and anyone who believed that God created man and woman and that men should be banned from women’s sports. Ten years screaming at the top of their heads, calling us Nazis, deplorables, fascists. They were not interested in telling the truth. They were interested in spiking clicks and ratings, and getting votes.

Much has been made about ABC’s decision to fire Jimmy Kimmel from his not-so-funny late-night show for misleading the public about Kirk’s assassin. Kimmel said:

“We hit 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 and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

From what his parents have told authorities, the alleged assassin, raised by a Christian family, was radicalized by transgender ideology and Antifa tactics. On the bullets like the one used to kill Kirk, he etched anti-Christian and gender memes. His transgendering partner Lance Twiggs held deeply rooted hatred toward conservatives and Christians. One ABC reporter found their romantic texts “very touching.”

To many on the Left — and some on the Right — this Kimmel cancellation was a breach of free speech, yet another existential threat to democracy, because, they insisted, FCC Chairman Brandon Carr had pressured ABC. What Carr actually said was, “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” What he meant is unclear.

What is clear is the law. As The Federalist pointed out:

FCC regulations prohibit news distortion or a hoax. According to the regulations:

The broadcast by a station of false information concerning a crime or catastrophe violates the FCC’s rules if:

• The station licensee knew that the information was false;

• Broadcasting the false information directly causes substantial public harm; and

• It was foreseeable that broadcasting the false information would cause such harm.

The other thing clear is that ABC did not fire Kimmel because of some newly empowered MAGA censorship team. Yes, we have been organizing to cancel all the teachers, nurses and pilots who hated Charlie because of the media’s talking points. Over 100 teachers in Texas will have their certificates suspended and face permanent bans from the classroom. But unlike the Left’s cancellation of so many of us on the Right for questioning the efficacy and safety of the COVID vaccines, ABC’s decision — like Bud Light’s and Cracker Barrel’s before it — is a response to its consumers.

Two large ABC affiliates, Nexstar and Sinclair, announced they planned to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live “for the foreseeable future.” Neither mentioned the FCC. Sinclair said its 24 stations would run a Charlie Kirk memorial instead. Nexstar (32 stations) said, “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse. Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest.” Disney’s CEO Bob Iger (Disney owns ABC) had no choice. He responded to his base, not the FCC. And Nexstar and Sinclair were responding to their consumers.

The other remarkable thing happening in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death is that many young people who knew nothing about the Turning Point USA organizer, whose signature strategy was to debate young people who disagreed with him, are starting to plug in, finding the caricature a complete lie. Listen to Mikki Willis, who posted on X:

I’m seeing a lot of posts from self-identified Democrats and progressives who’ve recently gone down the rabbit hole of binge-watching Charlie Kirk videos—curious to understand who he really is beyond the headlines. Their reactions are remarkably similar. They’re often shocked to realize that the version of Charlie they were conditioned to believe in bears little resemblance to reality. What they find instead isn’t a caricature, but a thoughtful, articulate young man—firm in his convictions, yet respectful in how he expresses them. He’s not the villain they were told to expect. He’s curious, honest, and often gracious in debate, even with those who strongly disagree with him. His greatest “crime” appears to be his willingness to engage in civil discourse. If you’re one of the millions beginning to realize you’ve been misled about Charlie Kirk—don’t let the awakening stop there. Start questioning everything you’ve been told about the issues that divide us. Because, like the narrative about Charlie, many of those stories are built on outright lies. Keep digging, and you’ll eventually discover that your true enemy is big media and those who fund and control the narrative.

The leftists who control our media are not only celebrating his death, they are calling for the murder of his wife and children, and have created a list of others they want targeted for death: J.K. Rowling, Ben Shapiro, Elon Musk, J.D. Vance. They seek to silence voices on the Right, as they did Charlie’s, because they know these figures are effective. Leftists know they cannot win the debate, cannot withstand scrutiny by a new generation of sleuths watching Turning Point videos for the first time. Even as liberals dance on Charlie’s grave, he is using his new platform to teach.

We have the power now, with Kirk offering the wind at our backs, to rob these evil institutions of energy by withholding our oxygen. Turn off the channel, stop listening to the noise, cancel voices of hatred. We have the power to restore our culture.

In the run-up to the Civil War, an enraged Rep. Preston Brooks of South Carolina crossed over to the Senate and nearly beat to death Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, a fiery speaker for the cause of ending slavery. Two of Brooks’ co-conspirators from the House stood guard to prevent anyone from coming to Sumner’s aid. They left him unconscious in a pool of blood on the Senate floor.

His near-death was celebrated throughout the South. When he returned to the Senate floor later, Sumner said he would resume “the discussion precisely where I left it.”

And that is what we must do now, in the face of Charlie’s assassination. We must carry his work forward, call out the media for its lies, widen the tent.

With love and prayers to all of you.