Did you hear the one concerning the President who couldn’t take a joke?
Not that Trump’s humorless streak is new; a lot of his allies assume he solely determined to hunt the very best workplace within the land after then-President Obama roasted him on the 2011 White Home Correspondent’s dinner. “I believe that’s the night time he resolves to run for president,” Roger Stone mentioned later.
Guessing at his considering throughout that dinner, Omarosa Manigault added, “It’s the final revenge to turn into essentially the most highly effective man within the universe.” Now in his second time period, revenge is about the one factor Trump appears ready to slot in between rounds of golf. The most recent casualty is Jimmy Kimmel, whose late-night present was indefinitely pulled by ABC on Wednesday following some anodyne feedback concerning the demise of Charlie Kirk.
Trump’s FCC Chairman Brendan Carr didn’t trouble hiding the risk: “What folks don’t perceive is that the broadcasters … have a license granted by us on the FCC,” he mentioned. “Look, we are able to do that the straightforward manner or the exhausting manner. These corporations can discover methods to alter conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be further work for the FCC forward.” And everyone knows how a lot this administration hates precise work!
Associated Video
“Is that this authorized?” you would possibly ask, however then your pals would possibly follow-up with the query, “Have you ever been in a coma?” Ever since a GOP-controlled Senate voted to acquit Trump on impeachment costs following the January sixth riot, the entire idea of “authorized” has turn into like Trump’s spray tan — a factor to take a look at earlier than it’s washed away. “Can he get away with it?” is perhaps a greater query, and I believe everyone knows the reply.
Stephen Colbert’s sudden cancellation got here cloaked in believable deniability — did it actually must do with Paramount needing FCC approval to merge with Skydance, or was it a pure response to declining scores and a weak late-night panorama? However with Kimmel there’s no ambiguity. The White Home is crowing concerning the profitable censorship, and so they would possibly simply be getting began. Solely yesterday, the FCC threatened to “look into” The View.
The temper recollects the months after the 9/11 terrorist assaults. Invoice Maher’s present Politically Incorrect was canceled after he claimed that flying planes into buildings takes extra braveness than lobbing cruise missiles — a way more provocative take than a lot of the Kirk feedback — and he was changed by [drum-roll, please] Jimmy Kimmel Stay! The then-Dixie Chicks, Phil Donahue, and even apolitical rock songs like “Hey Man, Good Shot” all got here underneath hearth, and a few of these careers by no means recovered. The Chicks have been by no means as huge as The Dixie Chicks, and Donahue’s opposition to the Iraq Battle successfully ended his 40-year profession in broadcast tv.
After all Kimmel and Colbert are millionaires many occasions over, and if The View will get shut down, these women gained’t be ravenous within the streets. However norms are being shattered, the First Modification has been weakened, and this gained’t all get magically mounted after the 2026 midterms. A precedent for a political FCC has been set, and it could take generations to undo.
The sample is as predictable as it’s chilling: Trump, who couldn’t take a joke at that Correspondents’ dinner, is now systematically silencing those that dare to make them. In comedy golf equipment throughout America, comedians are questioning if they need to self-censor, producers are pulling sketches, and writers are second-guessing each punchline. The previous showbiz motto was “snort when you can,” and people phrases have not often felt extra like a warning.