White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared on Kayleigh McEnany\u2019s new Fox News program Saturday in America to discuss former President Barack Obama\u2019s remarks on the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 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\u2019t like,\u201d Obama posted to X on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent \u2014 and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
But in remarks to McEnany, Leavitt said Obama\u2019s statement wreaks of cluelessness. \u201cWith all due respect to former President Obama, he has no idea what he\u2019s talking about,\u201d Leavitt asserted. \u201cThe decision to fire Jimmy Kimmel and to cancel his show came from executives at ABC.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leavitt assured viewers that ABC\u2019s decision to suspend Kimmel was not influenced by the White House and that President Donald Trump did not pressure the network to take this action.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd how do I know that, Kayleigh?\u201d she asked. \u201cBecause I was with the President when this news broke in the\u00a0United Kingdom.\u201d The press secretary claimed that she was the one who broke the news to Trump during their U.K. visit, and that at the time, the president \u201chad no idea this was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a decision that was made by ABC because Jimmy Kimmel chose to knowingly lie to his audience on his program about the death of a highly respected man when our country is in a state of mourning. That was a decision that he made, and he is now facing a consequence for that decision and for that lie,\u201d she argued.<\/p>\n
Disney, the parent company of ABC, confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that Jimmy Kimmel Live, produced in Los Angeles, has been suspended \u201cindefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nexstar Media Group, which owns hundreds of stations nationwide, announced it would preempt the program on its ABC affiliates \u201cfor the foreseeable future,\u201d citing Kimmel\u2019s remarks about Charlie Kirk\u2019s alleged assassin. Sinclair Broadcast Group also said it would drop the show from its lineup.<\/p>\n
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