THE COMEDIAN TRUMP COULDN’T CANCEL

ABC renewed Jimmy Kimmel’s contract despite a presidential campaign to push him off television. Here is what that tells us about power, culture and resistance.

There is a particular kind of panic that shows itself in politics when a joke lands in the wrong room. It is the panic of a president realizing that punchlines he cannot control are shaping the public more effectively than his own message. Jimmy Kimmel has become one of those pressure points. For months, Donald Trump tried to muscle him off the air through threats, rage posts and public humiliation. He failed.

ABC has not only refused to bend. It has extended Kimmel’s contract.

According to the Associated Press, ABC has signed the late-night host to a new one-year deal, keeping him on the air at least through May 2027 (Associated Press, 2025).

The decision is more than a renewal. It is a cultural counterpunch.

I. The Suspension That Sparked a Backlash

Kimmel’s future looked uncertain in September after ABC temporarily suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” The suspension followed remarks Kimmel made on air after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a moment that instantly became a flashpoint in the culture war (Associated Press, 2025).

ABC faced public outrage. Ratings threatened to crater. Viewers demanded his return. And the network reversed course. When Kimmel came back, he did not just survive. He surged.

The AP report notes that he returned “with much stronger ratings than he had before” the suspension (Associated Press, 2025).

Something shifted. A late-night host had become a symbol of defiance.

II. Trump’s Public Campaign to Remove Kimmel

After Kimmel returned with a nearly ten-minute monologue targeting Trump and the newly resurfaced Jeffrey Epstein files, the president escalated.

Trump urged ABC to “get the bum off the air” in a public social media post (Associated Press, 2025).

These were not offhand insults. They were attempts to pressure a private corporation into silencing a critic. This is where the story expands beyond entertainment. A sitting president was openly calling for a media personality to be taken off air for political reasons.

And it continued. At the Kennedy Center Honors, Trump still could not let it go.

“Jimmy Kimmel was horrible,” he said. “If I cannot beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I do not think I should be president.” (Associated Press, 2025)

The line was meant to be humor. The subtext was not. Presidents do not normally publicly compare themselves to comedians. Presidents do not usually measure their legitimacy in ratings.

Unless the comedian has become a threat.

III. Why Kimmel Became a Target

Kimmel has mocked Trump for years, but the intensity sharpened this year. His multi-minute monologues about the administration’s mishandling of the Epstein files struck a nerve. They reached millions. They circulated widely. They reframed the narrative.

So Trump tried to discredit him. But the more he attacked, the bigger Kimmel’s platform grew.

This dynamic matters because authoritarian politics depends on controlling the channels of ridicule. Strongmen do not fear policy argument. They fear laughter. They fear being made small. They fear becoming a punchline.

Comedy, in moments like this, becomes a form of power.

IV. ABC’s Decision: A Cultural Rebuff

ABC had every incentive to avoid conflict. Networks historically retreat from political storms. They cut hosts loose. They apologize. They sanitize their brands.

This time was different.

The network renewed Kimmel even after the president demanded his removal, even after partisan outrage, and even after a suspension that could have been framed as the beginning of a disciplined exit. ABC chose not to kneel.

This is significant because it signals something broader. Cultural institutions are beginning to recognize the cost of appeasement. They are learning that audiences punish cowardice faster than political actors punish defiance.

The image on page one of the AP file shows Kimmel in a golden-toned backdrop, smiling as if unfazed by the entire affair. It is a portrait of a man who outlasted the presidency’s attempt to shrink him.

V. What This Moment Actually Represents

When ABC renewed Kimmel’s contract, it did more than defy a president. It affirmed a principle that has eroded in the last decade.

A president does not get to dictate which voices remain in the public square.

The cultural arena has always been one of the strongest checks on political power. When institutions fold under pressure, the country dulls. When institutions resist, the country sharpens.

The AP reporting underscores that Kimmel’s return triggered higher ratings, not collapse. That is the clue. Viewers reward authenticity. They reward critique. They reward the people who refuse to cower in moments of fear.

And they punish the people who try to silence them.

Final Word

Trump attempted to turn late-night television into an extension of his will. He called Kimmel talentless. He demanded his removal. He mocked him at official events. He tried to transform ridicule into censorship.

He failed.

The story is not that Jimmy Kimmel got another year. The story is that a cultural institution finally looked political pressure in the eye and did not blink.

If you believe in journalism that tracks these shifts in cultural power and refuses to sanitize their meaning, consider becoming a paid subscriber. It keeps this work alive.

References

Associated Press. (2025). ABC signs Jimmy Kimmel to a one-year contract extension, months after temporary suspension.

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