By Brandon Champion Mlive.com,By Brandon Champion mlive.com

Copyright keenesentinel

ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show on Wednesday night in a move that generated mixed reactions across the board and reignited debates around free speech and government overreach.

But there was no debating how President Donald Trump felt about the decision, which he called “great news for America.”

“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Kimmel has zero talent and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.”

Kimmel, a longtime critic of President Donald Trump, made several remarks on Monday and Tuesday about the reaction to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

On Monday, Kimmel suggested that the man charged in Kirk’s killing, Tyler Robinson, might have been a pro-Trump Republican.

“The MAGA Gang (is) 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,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

Nexstar Communications Group, which operates 28 ABC affiliates, promptly said it would pull the show from the air deeming Kimmel’s comments to be “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”

Another company that owns 38 local television stations, Sinclair Broadcast Group, called on Kimmel to apologize to Kirk’s family and make a “meaningful personal donation” to the activist’s political organization, Turning Point USA.

Sinclair says its ABC stations will air a tribute to Kirk on Friday in Kimmel’s time slot. ABC has aired “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” since 2003.

As for Trump, he seems to have his eye on NBC next.

“That leaves Jimmy (Fallon) and Seth (Myers), two total losers, on fake news NBC,” he wrote. “Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC.”

Colbert won an Emmy last week even after CBS announced his “Late Show” had been canceled days after its parent company, Paramount, reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Trump in July.

Paramount has said the decision to cancel Colbert’s show was a financial one, but that move, along with Kimmel’s suspension at ABC has led to many conversations about free speech and the first amendment.

Reaction began to pour in after the decision, with some, such as conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly, supporting it.

“I’m not sure who needs to hear this but Jimmy Kimmel got on the air and falsely stated as a fact that Charlie Kirk’s killer was MAGA, smearing an entire movement and Trump in particular with a vile disgusting lie — and at a time when the threat against those on the right is at an all-time high,” she wrote.

Others condemned the move as an attack on free speech.

“There is no such thing as free speech under Donald Trump’s reign,” California Gov. Gavin Newsome wrote on X.

“This isn’t right,” actor Ben Stiller posted.

Former President Barack Obama also weighed in.

“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,” he said.

“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.”