ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel could have returned to the air by self-censoring. Kimmel could have done what many on television have since Trump returned to office. He could have surrendered his voice and power voluntarily to the president.
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Jimmy Kimmel could have been like CBS, Disney, CNN, MSNBC, numerous national newspapers, and other forms of media that muzzled themselves or changed their coverage to please Trump.
Kimmel didn’t do that.
Since he had to negotiate with his Disney bosses to get back on the air, some expression of contrition for his remarks was expected, and he addressed his comments related to the politics around the Charlie Kirk killing by saying:
I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human that you understand it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it. … Nor was my intent to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was tyring to make, but i understand that to some it felt ill-timed or unclear or maybe both. For those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset — if the situation was reversed, theres a good chance I’d feel the same way.
Empathy and the ability to see things from others’ points of view are sorely lacking in this country, but that is precisely what Kimmel demonstrated.
Jimmy Kimmel thanked and named many of the conservatives who spoke on behalf of the right to free speech, even though they disagreed with him.
The late-night host talked about the real issue, which is free speech and Trump trying to illegally silence his critics.
