“The Trump regime’s descent into full-blown authoritarianism is frightening, but it’s not surprising,” Mary Trump wrote on Friday.
Mary Trump, estranged niece of President Donald Trump, warned of a potential “domino effect” following the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel over his remarks on the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Newsweek the suspension “has nothing to do with free speech.”Why It Matters
Kirk, the late 31-year-old conservative activist, was fatally shot during a speech at Utah Valley University on September 10 during his “American Comeback Tour”, and 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, is in custody, charged with aggravated murder and other offenses. Kirk was a vocal supporter of Trump and played a key role in organizing young Republican voters.
Following a monologue Kimmel made about Kirk, FCC Commission Chair Brendon Carr warned that it was “very, very serious for Disney.”
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way”, he said. “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Nexstar, which owns ABC affiliate stations, announced hours later it would not air Kimmel’s show, and ABC announced the suspension later that day. Carr’s remarks have sparked accusations that the FCC pressured ABC and Disney to suspend Kimmel over his remarks amid ongoing concerns from both Democrats and Republicans about cancel culture and government censorship.What To Know
Author Mary Trump addressed the suspension of Kimmel in a Substack post on Friday. She criticized “corporate media” for the apparent decision to “capitulate to this petty tyrant who is so thin-skinned he can’t handle some jokes a handful of talk show hosts make at his expense.”
“Brendan Carr, of course, is yet another sycophantic hack who is happy to take a hatchet to Americans’ rights to free speech in service to Donald Trump’s pathetically fragile ego. The Trump regime’s descent into full-blown authoritarianism is frightening, but it’s not surprising”, she wrote.
