Donald Trump’s war with the media has escalated after US network ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show indefinitely.
The incident came after the comedian made remarks about the President’s supporters following the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Trump welcomed the suspension on his social platform Truth Social, urging NBC to also cancel fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.
On Thursday afternoon’s episode of The Briefing, we sat down with Crikey journalist Charlie Lewis to unpack what these latest moves mean for media independence and free speech.
Lewis said the move highlights a troubling pattern.
“We’re seeing a lot more of that kind of behaviour from the second Trump administration, where he’s using the machinery of the state, essentially, to go after some of his political opponents, whether that’s political opponents or in the media,” he said.
Lewis also said that the approach is more systematic than Trump’s first term.
“It wasn’t as organised and structured as we’ve been seeing in the second administration…and has a huge impact on freedom of speech,” he added.
“It’s always been the case that the legacy media in the US and Australia, and basically everywhere that there is a legacy media, has never quite known what to do about Donald Trump.”
Subscribe to The Briefing, Australia’s fastest-growing news podcast on LiSTNR today. The Briefing serves up the latest news headlines and a deep dive into a topic affecting you. All in under 20 minutes.