Trump Names His Next Targets After ABC Yanks Jimmy Kimmel Off the Air

President Donald Trump celebrated ABC’s decision Wednesday night to pull late-night host and longtime antagonist Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely, congratulating the network “for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”

But his attacks on late-night comedy didn’t stop there. Trump used the occasion to name the next two personalities he hopes to see fired.

“Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy [Fallon] and Seth [Meyers], two total losers, on Fake News NBC,” Trump posted to Truth Social from London, England. “Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”

Trump’s post came hours after ABC said that it would be taking “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air for the foreseeable future — a move that followed threats from the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr.

In particular, Carr took issue with a recent segment concerning the death of Charlie Kirk, in which Kimmel speculated about the shooter’s political affiliation.

“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 on his show. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

In an interview with right-wing personality Benny Johnson, Carr claimed that Kimmel’s remarks were part of a concerted effort to mislead the public about the circumstances of the right-wing activist’s death — an effort that may necessitate government action against ABC affiliates and the network’s parent company, Disney.

Within hours of Carr’s interview with Johnson being released, Nexstar Media Group, which owns a number of ABC affiliate stations across the country, said it would be preempting Kimmel’s program. In a press release announcing the decision, the company said it “strongly objects” to the late-night host’s remarks.

“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,” Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said.

In late July, Kimmel’s fellow late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert also lost his CBS slot after speaking critically of the administration as merger negotiations between Paramount, CBS’ parent company, and Skydance Media were ongoing. At the time, that deal was in the process of obtaining FCC approval.

Kimmel was taken off the air following a series of threats by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who took issue with a recent segment concerning the death of Charlie Kirk. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Like CBS, Nexstar is also undergoing FCC approval for a $6.2 million acquisition of news media organization Tegna, Inc.

Carr, who celebrated the decision to pull Kimmel from the air Wednesday night, had spoken out against daytime talk show “The View” for its criticism of the president.

“Look, it’s entirely possible that there’s issues over there,” Carr said on an episode of “Fox & Friends” earlier this summer. “And stepping back, this broader dynamic, once President Trump has exposed these media gatekeepers and smashed this facade, there’s a lot of consequences. I think the consequences of that aren’t quite finished.”