Donald Trump slammed Jimmy Kimmel during his Charlie Kirk memorial speech following the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Broadcaster ABC announced on Wednesday (17 September) that the long-running chat show 'will be preempted indefinitely'.
It came after Kimmel's comments about the 10 September shooting of right-wing political activist Kirk, claiming that Trump fans were weaponising the 31-year-old's death to 'score political points'.
"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid [Robinson] who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it," he told viewers last Monday (15 September).
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Speaking about Trump's reaction to the news, he added: "This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay? And it didn't just happen once.
"There's something wrong with him. Is it possible that he's doing it intentionally so we could be mad about that instead of the Epstein list?"
Now, during Kirk's memorial service on Sunday (21 September) - where an armed man was arrested - the US president referred to the podcaster as a 'great American hero' and 'martyr' for freedom.
“I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie. And neither now will history,” he said in his tribute.
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However, Trump went on to criticise Kimmel and the left for what he considered to be their reaction to the news.
"The same commentators who are screaming ‘fascism’ over a canceled late-night TV show, where the anchor had no talent and no ratings, were implying Charlie Kirk deserved what happened to him!" he said.
"No side in American politics has a monopoly on disturbed or misguided people, but there's one part of our political community which believes they have a monopoly on truth, goodness and virtue and concludes they have also a monopoly on power, thought and speech.
"Well, that's not happening any more. We've turned that corner very quickly.
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"Tragically, atrocities of this kind and the kind that we saw in Utah are the eventual consequences of that kind of thinking."
His comments divided viewers, as one person said on X: "Canceled Jimmy for saying exactly what the right is doing trying to use a tragedy as a political event.
"How is condoning hating your opponents during the service honoring Charlie honoring him?" a second penned.
"'Monopoly on truth?' You mean comedians can’t joke, critics can’t speak, and the government decides what news is “real”? That’s freedom?" a third added. "Censorship in a red hat."
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Others, meanwhile, agreed 'with everything he said'.
Topics: Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel
Anish Vij