You could almost hear the gears turning in Owen Strickland II’s head as he pondered slowly and deliberately whether Jimmy Kimmel should’ve been taken off air in the wake of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk’s murder.
“Mr. Kimmel started out his life and career as a comedian,” Strickland began. “Somewhere along the lines he morphed a long way away from that, in my personal opinion.”
“Unless there is a dramatic turnaround in the amount of people every night watching his show, he’s gonna get canceled,” he added later.
Strickland is mayor of Bailey, North Carolina, a tiny town of about 560 people, according to the U.S. Census. He’s also chair of the Nash County Republican Party. Politicians in the area often campaign on bread-and-butter issues like poverty, education, and internet connectivity. But the First Amendment matters, too, he said.
