First, They Came for Jimmy Kimmel
What happens when comedians are held to stricter standards than vice presidents?
1. Comedy
First things first: Jimmy Kimmel is only the second late-night comedian to be a casualty of American Orbánism. But before we get going, I want to note an observation from nine months ago, just three days into Trump’s second term:
Seth Meyers: You are officially on the clock.
Here is why Jimmy Kimmel has had his comedy show cancelled put on semi-indefinite hiatus: On Monday night’s show, Kimmel told the following joke:
We had 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. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.
In response, Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC went on Benny Johnson’s podcast—and please, just live with that fact for a moment—and announced that there was a “strong case” for the FCC pursuing action against ABC / Disney.
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
“They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”
ABC thought about this threat for a couple hours and then yanked Kimmel. I suppose they thought they were choosing the easy way.
2. Standards
From a Talmudic perspective, every word Kimmel said was factually true. MAGA media had been trying to characterize the suspect as anything other than conservative. They had been doing this since before a suspect had even been identified.
If you wanted to hold Kimmel to a journalistic, rather than a comedic, standard, then I suppose you could argue that Kimmel misled viewers. By saying that MAGA had been trying to portray the killer as not being a conservative, you might argue that he was leading viewers to infer that the killer was conservative?
I have noticed over the last 72 hours or so a sudden demand that all statements and observations concerning the Kirk murder be factually, incontrovertibly, true.
It is important to note that this standard seems to have been put in place shortly after MAGA media ran around circulating unconfirmed rumors and speculating wildly about the shooter’s identity before Robinson was arrested.
Anyone who makes a statement that turns out to be less than fully accurate, or who makes a joke, or who—God forbid—is just asking questions is now liable to have not just a Twitter mob, or their private employer, but the full force of the federal government brought against them.
Do people understand now what the authoritarian project is aiming for?
I realize that I am exceedingly hot, but this is a moment that demands both new thinking and solidarity. A moment to find your people, link arms, and stand up. I’d be honored if you’d join us here, right now.
3. Asymmetry
People of good will should endeavor to get facts right. When they make errors, they should correct them. Trafficking in conspiracy theories is toxic. Making things up is dishonorable.
But what happens in a society where one side is required to operate at all times and in all places in perfect good faith and the other side faces no such constraints?1
Almost exactly a year ago, Donald Trump stood on stage at a presidential debate and claimed that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were abducting and eating their neighbors’ pets:
They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.
This was false. Entirely false. Totally untrue. A lie.
Seven days later, JD Vance went on CNN and admitted that the story was a lie. That it was made up. And he justified his deception as part of a greater mission:
The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.
Please read that again:
“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
So please, cry me a river about this administration’s deep devotion to truth and accuracy.
And they’re doing it again, by the way.
In the same afternoon that ABC was given the choice of canning Kimmel in either “the easy way” or “the hard way,” Vice President Vance created another story. He said that under Christopher Wray, its former director, the FBI, “should have been investigating the networks that motivated, inspired, and maybe even funded Charlie Kirk’s murder.”
What “networks” that “maybe even funded Charlie Kirk’s murder” is Vance talking about? No evidence—nada—has come to light suggesting the shooter had any accomplices or partners, let alone the backing of a “network.” The evidence released so far suggests the shooter acted by himself.
You tell me who misled his audience more: Jimmy Kimmel the comedian, or JD Vance the vice president.
I understand this is a dog-bites-man story: Trump, Vance, and their propaganda networks do not operate in good faith. They are authoritarians and do not see themselves as bound by society’s rules because their aim is to break society and then dominate it, indefinitely.
And I would not go so far as to say that the forces of liberalism ought to stop operating in good faith. They should still strive to be truthful and accurate. They should correct their errors. They should eschew conspiracy theories.
But for the love of God they should stop treating MAGA like a legitimate movement that is playing by the same rules as everyone else. Regular order is over. That clip of JD Vance admitting that he’s happy to “create” stories ought to play in front of literally every single discussion of Jimmy Kimmel.
The people operating in good faith need to stop self-flagellating over their mistakes and surrendering preemptively.
They need to look up and realize what time it is.
Because if Disney doesn’t want to fight over the independence of its news division, or the content of its animated movies, or the hiring policies at its theme parks, then it ought to line the fuck up behind Jimmy Kimmel, right now.
Capitulation isn’t the easy way. It’s the stupid way.
The easy way—and the smart way—is to make the fascists fight for every inch.
When I say “is allowed” I mean by voters. Voters are the ones who have decided that Democrats must play perfect baseball and Republicans face no consequences for any depredation, up to and including insurrection.
ABC fires Jimmy Kimmel. Disney owns ABC. So I cancelled my Disney Plus subscription. A small act of defiance
Actually. First they came for Stephen Colbert. But thanks for burning the late night oil to get a post on about this…I have been boiling mad since it was announced and need to get all of my peep’s thoughts on this. Scary.