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Comedian and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel gave a stark warning to the world about the rise of fascism and tyranny in the United States in a Christmas message broadcast to the United Kingdom.
Kimmel was asked by broadcaster Channel 4 to provide an “alternative” address to accompany the official message aired by King Charles each year.
“From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year. Tyranny is booming over here,” Kimmel said. He noted that Trump “would like to shut me up because I don’t adore him in the way he likes to be adored.”
“Here in the United States right now, we are both figuratively and literally tearing down the structures of our democracy — from the free press to science to medicine to judicial independence to the actual White House itself,” he added. “I want you to know we’re not all like him, we’re not all like that.”
Kimmel ended his speech by asking viewers not to give up on America, noting, “we’re going through a bit of a wobble right now, but we’ll come around.”
Kimmel was chosen for the broadcast because in September the Trump administration, via the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), directly targeted him for removal from the air after the comedian commented on the killing of Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel has been a longtime critic of Trump and has used his show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to mock Trump for years.
After the program was taken offline, with the assistance of conservative ABC affiliate owners Sinclair and Nexstar, public outcry against the decision led to Kimmel’s triumphant return.
Unlike his predecessors in both parties, Trump has been unable to maintain calmness and maturity when mocked by comedians—a standard part of being a major public figure like the president.
Just before the Christmas holiday, Trump fumed that he was being made fun of by one of Kimmel’s competitors, “Late Night” host Stephen Colbert—and called for the broadcast licenses of networks airing comedians who don’t like him to be pulled.
Trump highlighted his vindictiveness in a Christmas evening post where he warned that Democrats and other detractors should “enjoy what may be your last Merry Christmas.”
Over the last year, allies of Trump have exerted their control over major media outlets to bend coverage in Trump’s favor. For instance, Trump inaugural donor and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has overseen an exodus of voices critical of the right in the paper’s editorial pages and has been praised by Trump for pushing the paper in a pro-MAGA direction. Simultaneously, Trump allies like billionaire Larry Ellison have taken over Paramount, which owns CBS, and paid off millions to Trump for a frivolous lawsuit.
Related | Trump threatens TV networks in unhinged Merry Christmas rant
There has been considerable blowback as well, most recently at CBS News, where conservative editor-in-chief Bari Weiss spiked a “60 Minutes” report exposing the Trump administration’s affiliation with abusive policies at El Salvador’s CECOT prison. Instead of squashing an unfavorable story, CBS has come under withering criticism for days on end.
Kimmel was the perfect spokesperson to continue arguing for First Amendment speech under Trump—targeted for regime censorship, he received public support and was restored, and now continues to mock Trump with the contempt the American president has earned.
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Oliver Willis
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