What is wrong with describing someone’s facial expression? Is Trump too sensitive for comedy?
In the old Roman Empire, Emperors were kings who almost played God. That intimidated the populace so much that the king could go naked, and nobody would dare to alert him and save him from shame.
Recently, Late Night Show host Jimmy Kimmel described the US First Lady, Melania Trump, as looking beautiful. However, he expressed that in a comedic way.
In any case, the show is fundamentally comedic. Jimmy said of an image of Melania seated among other people, that she had a glow of an expectant widow.
Melania later complained about the joke. However, what many people find odd is President Trump following Melania’s reaction with a demand to cancel Kimmel’s show.
Even more odd is the fact that the president did that only a day after the media and politicians were supposed to celebrate the First Amendment.
Freedom of speech and expression is legally protected in the US, as contained in the Constitution’s First Amendment.
Trump Demands Media Corporations to Cancel Media Licenses
Following Trump’s complaint, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered the review of ABC’s local licenses. Disney owns ABC, and the licenses it is being instructed to review are not yet due for renewal.
The President has already demanded that ABC fire Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted the Annual White House Correspondents Dinner in 2012.
The FCC has apparently succumbed to Trump’s call to weed out unhinged comedians, giving ABC one month, essentially up to May 28, 2026, to “handle” the media licenses.
The unquestioning behavior of the FCC’s top leadership is not surprising. Brendan Carr, the current FCC Chair, is a Trump ally.
Still, one might have thought there were other issues on the FCC’s priority list, such as the recent hacking of Kash Patel’s email account. The personal email account of Patel, the FBI director, was recently hacked, and a pro-Iranian group, Handala Hack Team, took responsibility.
Kimmel was previously nearly canceled.
This is not the first time President Trump has put pressure on ABC to cancel Jimmy Kimmel’s show. One reason he apparently dislikes Kimmel is that he supports the Democratic Party. Another is the way he keeps bringing up Trump’s relationship with the late disgraced sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
Fans of Kimmel and other ABC comedy shows will be waiting to see what happens within the next 30 or so days, as the FCC has given the Media House. They hope that the corporation will again uphold the premise that in a democracy, everybody is fair game for comics.