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<\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n When Jimmy Kimmel taped his back-to-work monologue<\/a> Tuesday night, he predicted that the restoration of his show would \u201cunfortunately and unjustly\u201d put ABC at risk of additional pressure from the government.\n <\/p>\n \n One hour before the monologue aired, President Trump proved him right, posting a blustery new legal threat against ABC on Truth Social.\n <\/p>\n \n Trump\u2019s message swerved between dismissive \u2014 Kimmel\u2019s \u201caudience is GONE,\u201d he claimed<\/a> \u2014 and intimidating. He claimed Kimmel \u201cputs the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE. He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we\u2019re going to test ABC out on this. Let\u2019s see how we do.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n ABC has not responded to CNN\u2019s request for comment about Trump\u2019s post, which lacked any clear legal basis.\n <\/p>\n \n This latest legal threat may come and go, but it is another crystal-clear example of the president using his government power to cajole a privately owned media company into changing its content.\n <\/p>\n \n In this case, it\u2019s for a very specific reason: The president can\u2019t stand being criticized night after night.\n <\/p>\n \n As Kimmel noted on the air, the president has also called for NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon. Kimmel urged viewers to speak up on Fallon\u2019s behalf if there is \u201cany hint\u201d of action against his rival.\n <\/p>\n \n On Wednesday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted to Trump\u2019s newest missive against ABC by saying, \u201cThis is a test of democracy.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n That threat, Schumer said on MSNBC, \u201cis what dictatorships do. That is what autocracies do.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Trump wants anyone he \u201cdoesn\u2019t agree with he wants to shut up,\u201d Schumer added. \u201cThat\u2019s a dagger to the heart of America.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Trump\u2019s post also highlighted how last December\u2019s Disney settlement has emboldened him to make further demands of media companies. \u201cLast time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars,\u201d the president wrote. \u201cThis one sounds even more lucrative.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The president\u2019s tone is revealing. \u201cThey gave me\u201d $16 million sounds so casual, when in fact ABC\u2019s payout was anything but.\n <\/p>\n \n The company decided to settle Trump\u2019s defamation lawsuit against ABC News to avoid the legal discovery process and an unpredictable trial, not out of the goodness of Mickey Mouse\u2019s heart. Numerous critics, including some inside ABC, now look back at that settlement with regret, believing it kicked off a wave of media capitulation to the president.\n <\/p>\n \n In any case, Trump\u2019s latest threat is a clear indication that he intends to punish ABC for allowing Kimmel to return to the air.\n <\/p>\n \n It also once again contradicts the popular MAGA media claim that Trump and Brendan Carr had nothing to do with Kimmel\u2019s benching. As Justin Amash, the former GOP congressman, said on X,<\/a> the president\u2019s words \u201ctorpedoed every White House surrogate who claimed the administration wasn\u2019t attempting to coerce Disney\/ABC.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Kimmel geared up his audience for this continued grudge match last night. He assailed Trump\u2019s \u201cun-American<\/a>\u201d attacks on free speech and borrowed a line from the late great comedian Jack Paar, the second host of \u201cThe Tonight Show,\u201d who quit hosting the show for nearly a month in 1960 over a dispute with NBC\u2019s censors. When Paar returned to work, he opened by saying, \u201cAs I was saying before I was interrupted\u2026\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n And that\u2019s exactly how Kimmel opened last night, as well.\n <\/p>\n
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