ABC executives had the right to indefinitely suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live” after Kimmel’s comments about the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, because the network’s move was a business decision, Sen. Markwayne Mullin said Sunday.
“ABC executives, they have the right to do what they choose to,” the Oklahoma Republican said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“They’re running a for-profit business, just like when Fox [News] decided to remove Tucker Carlson over his COVID comments. If it doesn’t align with a private business, then they have the right to remove them, if it doesn’t fit with their brand,” he added. “It’s that simple.”
In his remarks last week, Kimmel said that “we hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
On Sunday, Mullin dismissed concerns that government pressure played a role in Kimmel’s ouster, saying ABC has long been critical of the Trump administration.
“I don’t think a threat would make any difference whatsoever,” he said. “They made a decision because Jimmy Kimmel said something that was extremely insensitive and a flat-out lie about the president of the United States, and there was no excuse for it … I don’t care if you’re a comedian or who you are. Making a joke about an assassination, there is no room for that at all.”
The senator also criticized what he called partisan double standards on free speech. He noted that while the House unanimously passed a resolution condemning the assassination of state Rep. Melissa Hartman, a nearly identical resolution honoring slain conservative leader Charlie Kirk drew 58 “no” votes, 38 “present” votes, and 22 members who abstained.
“That is silent,” Mullin said. “So you had 118 individuals that didn’t condemn it because, why? Because the hypocrisy over both sides.”
Mullin, meanwhile, on Sunday remembered Kirk as “a Christian man first, a husband and a father” whose influence reached far beyond his years.
He pointed to tributes at home and abroad, noting that President Donald Trump addressed the nation after Kirk’s death and Vice President JD Vance helped return his body. “It’s hard to believe a guy 31 years old made an impact like that around the world,” he said.
Mullin also defended Trump’s complaint on Sunday that 97% of news coverage about him is negative, saying the former president was referring to the election.
“When 97% of the news stories are negative about him, it is cheating because you’re putting out a narrative that isn’t true,” he said. While emphasizing his support for free speech, Mullin added that “there’s a thin line between free speech and when it crosses a line and crosses violence.”
On Trump’s call for the Justice Department to investigate his political opponents, Mullin said the president’s bluntness is what resonates with voters.
“I think what we know is President Trump is very open and transparent with the American people, and he speaks his mind,” he said. He argued that figures like former FBI Director James Comey and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., should be scrutinized, adding, “If they did something illegal … then they 100% should be held accountable.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
