The abrupt removal of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show from a number of US television networks is not merely another skirmish in the culture wars. It is a stark and illuminating lesson in the absolute hypocrisy that defines the modern far-right movement and its leader, Donald Trump. Their triumphant celebration of this act of censorship lays bare a chilling truth: their cries of “free speech” were never a principle—only a tactic.
The pretext for the cancellation was Kimmel’s monologue following the tragic assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. Kimmel, in his capacity as a satirist and commentator, made the pointed observation that Trump and his MAGA allies were cynically capitalising on the murder for political gain. He criticised the immediate, finger-pointing rhetoric that sought to blame “left-wing extremism” before the facts were settled, and drew a sharp contrast with the movement’s silence over past political violence, such as the January 6th insurrection where rioters chanted for the hanging of Mike Pence.
For this, the machinery of the right-wing outrage industry whirred into action. Nexstar Media, a major broadcaster, deemed the comments “offensive and insensitive,” pulling the show to “let cooler heads prevail.” But the most telling reaction came from the top. Donald Trump, a man who has built a political brand on railing against “cancel culture,” took to his Truth Social platform to gleefully declare the show “CANCELLED,” congratulating ABC for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
The hypocrisy is so brazen it takes one’s breath away.
This is the same movement that has spent years posturing as the last bastion of free expression. They have weaponised the concept of free speech to defend hateful rhetoric, platform extremists, and lambast any form of social accountability as “woke censorship.” They present themselves as martyrs, silenced by a powerful liberal elite. Yet, the moment a popular comedian offers a critique they dislike—one that hits far too close to home—their true colours are revealed. They do not want free speech; they want impunity. They demand the right to speak without consequence while reserving the right to silence anyone who speaks against them.
The involvement of Trump-appointed FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who threatened to “take action” against Disney and ABC, exposes the dangerous authoritarian impulse at play. This is not a grassroots movement holding a media company to account; it is a chilling example of state-aligned figures using the threat of regulatory power to punish dissent and shape media content to their liking. It is a move straight from the playbook of illiberal democracies, where pressure is applied to force corporations into doing the government’s censorial work.
The celebration of Kimmel’s cancellation, following similar cheers for the end of Stephen Colbert’s show, proves that the far-right’s free speech crusade was always a sham. Their principle is situational: speech for me, but not for thee. They mourn a goldfish with the performative grief of a four-year-old, as Kimmel astutely noted, but their reaction to criticism is that of a petulant autocrat: silence it, sue it, cancel it.
In the end, the message is clear. The movement that claims to defend the First Amendment is, in fact, its most potent threat. They have shown that their commitment to free speech extends only to the edge of their own political interests. Beyond that line, they are not just willing but eager to pull the lever, to silence the critic, and to celebrate their victory over the very freedom they profess to hold dear. It is a contradiction that defines them, and one that the world would do well to remember.
