US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show as “great news for America”, as he celebrated the departure of a comedian who is bitingly critical of the US president.
“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social.
“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible,” he added.
After Jimmy Kimmel made comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk, ABC indefinitely suspended his late-night show. This action came after a group of ABC-affiliated stations announced they would no longer air the show.
Kimmel, the veteran late-night comic, made several comments about the reaction to Kirk’s assassination on his show Monday and Tuesday nights. He said that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.”
ABC, which has aired Kimmel’s late-night show since 2003, moved swiftly after Nexstar Communications Group said it would pull the show starting Wednesday. Kimmel’s comments about Kirk’s death “are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division. Nexstar operates 23 ABC affiliates.
There was no immediate comment from Kimmel.
President Trump has also targeted two other late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and said they should be canceled too, calling them “two total losers.”
Kimmel’s contract is up at the end of next season, which ends in May 2026.
On Twitter Wednesday night, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich wrote, “Welcome to Consequence Culture. Normal, common sense Americans are no longer taking the b———- and companies like ABC are finally willing to do the right and reasonable thing.”
Welcome to Consequence Culture.
Normal, common sense Americans are no longer taking the bullshit and companies like ABC are finally willing to do the right and reasonable thing.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! https://t.co/EajJJBwCoL
— Taylor Budowich (@TayFromCA) September 17, 2025
In his monologue on Monday, 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.”
Kimmel said that Trump’s response to Kirk’s death “is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?” He also said that FBI chief Kash Patel has handled the investigation into the murder “like a kid who didn’t read the book, BS’ing his way through an oral report.”
He returned to the topic on Tuesday night, mocking Vice President JD Vance’s performance as guest host for Kirk’s podcast.
Charged with the murder of Kirk, Tyler Robinson, 22, was raised in a conservative home in southern Utah but had recently adopted “leftist ideology,” according to authorities. His parents informed investigators that over the past year, he had become politically left-leaning and a supporter of LGBTQ rights.
Utah records show he was registered as a voter, but not affiliated with either political party. His voter status is inactive, meaning he did not vote in two regular general elections. He told his transgender partner that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”
(With inputs from AP)
