After Jimmy Kimmel reappeared on ABC and spoke movingly about President Trump’s failed effort to oust him, Trump lost it on Truth Social and threatened Kimmel yet again. He also threatened to “test” his ability to bully ABC into yanking Kimmel a second time. In so doing, Trump accidentally demolished a big new lie that Fox News and MAGA figures have been making again and again: That Kimmel’s return shows Trump never brought authoritarian pressure on ABC and Disney at all. Trump said, in effect: Actually, I really am threatening government action against them. We think all the confusion signals weakness: Trump and MAGA are losing this battle. We talked to Mona Charen of The Bulwark, who has a great new piece arguing that Trump’s crackdown on speech is “taking a page from dictators.” We discuss just how corrupt the anti-Kimmel effort truly is, how far Trump is getting in suppressing dissent, and why there’s grounds for optimism that the culture and civil society are now fighting back. Listen to this episode here.
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Trump Just Accidentally Wrecked MAGA’s Dumb New Lie about Jimmy Kimmel
As Trump threatens more action against the comedian, the author of a new piece on his suppression of dissent discusses why this is the stuff of dictators—and how civil society is finally mobilizing in response.
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