Barack Obama Responds to Jimmy Kimmel Being Taken Off Air
Source: Newsweek
Published Sep 19, 2025 at 2:31 AM EDT
Former President Barack Obama has called for freedom of speech to be protected after ABC suspended late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk's fatal shooting.
"This commentary offers a clear, powerful statement of why freedom of speech is at the heart of democracy and must be defended, whether the speaker is Charlie Kirk or Jimmy Kimmel, MAGA supporters or MAGA opponents," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. He went on to share an article in the New York Times by former attorney David French, who he said "devoted much of his legal career to defending the First Amendment rights of conservative writers and scholars."
The former president also shared an excerpt from an 1860 essay written by abolitionist Frederick Douglass titled "A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston," where he argued that true liberty requires the freedom to express thoughts and opinions.
This follows remarks made by Kimmel about Tyler Robinson, who was charged with murder in relation to Kirk's death.
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/barack-obama-responds-jimmy-kimmel-tyler-robinson-charlie-kirk-2132264
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Sep 18, 2025
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Replying to @BarackObama
First there’s this piece by David French, who devoted much of his legal career to defending the First Amendment rights of conservative writers and scholars
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Dangers of the Charlie Kirk Aftermath
Frederick Douglass knew what free speech was. Why don’t we?
Barack Obama
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Second, it’s worth reading this excerpt from Frederick Douglass
constitutioncenter.org
A Plea for Free Speech in Boston (1860)
National Constitution Center Historic Documents Library record for A Plea for Free Speech in Boston (1860)
8:09 PM · Sep 18, 2025
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This commentary offers a clear, powerful statement of why freedom of speech is at the heart of democracy and must be defended, whether the speaker is Charlie Kirk or Jimmy Kimmel, MAGA supporters or MAGA opponents.
8:09 PM · Sep 18, 2025
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Sep 18, 2025
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After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.
yahoo.com
Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel
Trump’s most brazen attack on free speech yet.
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This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.
Karen Attiah of The Washington Post at the Hoover Institution in 2018.
nytimes.com
Washington Post Columnist Says She Was Fired for Posts After Charlie Kirk Shooting
Karen Attiah said she was fired for “speaking out against political violence” and America’s apathy toward guns.
10:11 AM · Sep 18, 2025
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