Multiple prominent Democrats who publicly called for censorship and suppression of individuals with whom they disagree are now claiming that Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension by ABC is an attack on free speech.
Kimmel himself mocked President Donald Trump’s 2021 Twitter suspension, but he was not the only one cheering on censorship and cancellation of people with opposing views. Among the list of leftists decrying Kimmel’s recent dumping are former President Barack Obama, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Left off of each of their complaints was how each had been involved in pushing cancel culture and/or censorship themselves.
Facing federal scrutiny and public backlash over Kimmel’s false claims concerning Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter, affiliate Nexstar Media Group, the owner of several ABC News affiliates, preemptively pulled Kimmel’s show “indefinitely.” Now Democrats who celebrated the cancellation of their celebrity detractors or pushed Big Tech censorship are decrying the move as anti-free speech.
MRC VP Dan Schneider commented, “Cancel culture was about forcing people to adopt certain beliefs, or suffer massive consequences. What we see today is the opposite. People can believe anything they want. They can also say anything they want. But society is then free to exercise their disgust. The KKK can march and spew hate on main street. We can then fire their a**es, just like ABC removed Kimmel.”
Nonetheless, leftists are still furious, regardless of their hypocrisy.
For instance, Swalwell went on CNN wearing a Jimmy Kimmel Live! hat and ranted, “I was a guest on the Jimmy Kimmel show. He, every night, has a right to come into any house that wants to watch and entertain Americans, just as Greg Gutfeld on Fox has a right to be not funny.” He emotionally blustered that “it should shake every American that the President of the United States is out there firing comedians who make fun of him. That is not who we are, and every American should care and stand up to this.”
NEW: A flustered Eric Swalwell says Jimmy Kimmel losing his show should “shake” every American, says Greg Gutfeld is not funny.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 18, 2025
“It should shake every American that the president of The United States is out there firing comedians who make fun of him.”
This is way better comedy… pic.twitter.com/Ktg3byCObs
Yet in 2020, Swalwell held a virtual hearing where he requested a “pledge” from Big Tech executives ahead of the election that they would suppress content that he considered misinformation.
“Donald Trump and his team attempt to sow misinformation online every single day. We need social media platforms to be ready to protect the integrity of our elections and the peaceful transition of power, before it is too late,” Swalwell claimed at the time.
In a similar vein, Obama lectured, “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.”
In response, comedienne Roseanne Barr challenged, “Remember when you and your wife called Bob Iger to have me fired?” She previously accused Obama of calling Disney CEO Iger to pressure for her firing after she joked about one of his officials.
Individual leftists aren’t the only hypocrites. The Democrats’ official X account screeched, “LEGALIZE COMEDY, FREE JIMMY KIMMEL.” Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz had a perfect reminder for them, “You clowns literally tried to cancel @TonyHinchcliffe for telling a joke. Kimmel got fired for telling a lie.” Democrats labeled Hinchcliffe a racist after he made a joke at a Trump rally about Puerto Rico’s trash problem.
Likewise, Democrat commentator Kaivan Shroff labeled Kimmel’s suspension as “fascism” but, in 2021, he rejoiced, “Deplatforming Trump really really worked and the fact that Big Tech waited for him to lose power to do it must never be forgotten.”
Likewise, Matthew Yglesias accused FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who investigated Kimmel, of having “killed the first amendment” but a screenshot of his 2021 post shows Yglesias claiming that “deplatforming Trump” had “no visible downside.”
Multiple leftists defending Kimmel previously called for former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to be fired. As one example, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Carr of a “corrupt abuse of power” and demanded his resignation.
Similarly, Schumer bragged, “We have new legislation to protect free speech in the wake of the Trump administration’s attacks on it.” But in 2023, Schumer and Jeffries wrote Rupert Murdoch to insist that he stop his hosts, including Tucker Carlson, from discussing potential election fraud.
That’s not all. Today, CNN media analyst Brian Stelter wailed, “Weaponize the levers of government for partisan political gain. Pressure privately owned media companies to toe the party line. Punish the owners who resist and reward the ones who acquiesce.” But in 2021, Stelter asserted of Carlson, “Reducing a liar’s reach is not the same as censoring freedom of speech; freedom of speech is different than freedom of reach.”
Free speech is under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
