The left is absolutely furious about the cancellation of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and it even sparked a comment from former President Barack Obama, who accused the White House of forcing the network to cancel the late-night comedian.
According to Fox News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt fired back at the former president, making it clear that it was the network's decision to cancel Kimmel and not due to White House pressure.
Obama, in an X post, had accused the Trump administration of "routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies" if they don't follow their playbook, a claim made without evidence.
The former president encouraged media companies to "stand up" to the Trump administration on First Amendment grounds.
Obama's accusatory X post sparked the reply from Leavitt defending the administration while shooting down Obama's accusations.
"After 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't like," Obama wrote.
He added, "This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it."
Leavitt joined Fox News' Kayleigh McEnany on her new show, "Saturday in America," to respond to Obama's accusations.
"With all due respect to former President Barack Obama, he has no idea what he's talking about," Leavitt said. "The decision to fire Jimmy Kimmel and to cancel his show came from executives at ABC."
"And how do I know that, Kayleigh?" Leavitt asked. "Because I was with the President when this news broke in the United Kingdom."
Leavitt explained why ABC made the call to get rid of Kimmel after he lied about Charlie Kirk's death, which sparked major backlash across the country.
"It 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," Leavitt said.
Nexstar's broadcasting chief, Andrew Alford, explained in a press release the decision to preempt his show.
"Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views or values of the local communities in which we are located," he wrote.
