Vice President Vance said Wednesday he found late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue in his return from a brief suspension over comments about Charlie Kirk to be “kind of kind-hearted,” but expressed frustration that Kimmel did not apologize.
“Well, I watched it and look, in some ways it was kind of kind-hearted,” Vance told Nexstar correspondent Reshad Hudson in an exclusive interview.
“On the other hand he didn’t actually say sorry to Charlie Kirk or his family,” added Vance, who was close friends with Kirk.
“And the reason so many people including me were so upset with what Jimmy Kimmel said is he accused Charlie Kirk’s murderer of being a MAGA, or a right-wing American. It wasn’t a joke, it was straight up disinformation and I really wish Jimmy Kimmel would apologize for it.”
Kimmel returned to host his show on Tuesday night for the first time since ABC took him off the air over criticism of his comments about Kirk, the conservative activist who was killed earlier this month.
Kimmel had accused conservatives of trying to score “political points” over Kirk’s death and said “the MAGA gang was desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” While the suspect in Kirk’s killing came from a politically conservative family, reports ahead of Kimmel’s remarks had suggested he had become more political in recent years while shifting to the left.
In Tuesday’s monologue, an emotional Kimmel said it was “never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.” He also pushed back on censorship and the Trump administration, saying, “a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American.”
ABC’s decision to take Vance off the air over his previous comments had spurred bipartisan criticism, particularly because of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) response.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr previously blasted Kimmel for his comments on Kirk and suggested local affiliates drop his show, arguing the program was not serving the public’s interest. Both Sinclair and Nexstar have suspended Kimmel’s show on their ABC affiliates.
Both companies are expected to have major business before the FCC, and Democrats on Tuesday accused the FCC of seeking to intimidate Nexstar, which owns The Hill, recently announced plans to acquire rival broadcaster Tegna as part of a massive deal that will require approval from Carr’s FCC.
Democrats on Tuesday accused the FCC of seeking to intimidate affiliates in a letter to Carr.
The letter noted that both Nexstar and Sinclair “quickly reacted to your intimidations by preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! on their stations.”
President Trump had previously urged ABC to cancel Kimmel after CBS announced it was ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Some conservatives have also taken issue with Carr’s involvement, warning it set a potentially dangerous precedent.
“I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Friday on his podcast. “But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying ‘we don’t like what you the media have said, we’re going to ban you from the airwaves, if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told CNN on Wednesday the Kimmel saga “isn’t an area that I think the FCC ought to be wandering into.”
Vance in Wednesday’s interview with Nexstar rejected allegations that the Trump administration was engaged in censorship or had coerced ABC or its affiliates into removing Kimmel.
“FCC chairman Brendan Carr put out a couple of tweets…We did literally nothing to try to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air,” Vance told Hudson during an interview in North Carolina. “We believe in free speech. We also believe in the right of a television station or network to cancel somebody because of low ratings.”
Vance argued a better example of government censorship was the Biden administration urging technology and social media companies to remove content that contained misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. The vice president cited a decision this week by YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet, to reinstate creators previously banned for spreading misinformation about the virus and the 2020 election.
“So if we’re looking for real sources of the government driving censorship we should be looking at the policies of the Biden administration. We absolutely reject censorship in the Trump administration,” Vance said. “We don’t want to prevent anybody from speaking their mind. But if a TV station wants to cancel a guy because he’s not funny, that’s their business.”
The Trump administration has set off alarms among free speech advocates in the wake of Kirk’s death.
Attorney General Pam Bondi warned that the government would punish those who engage in hate speech, comments she walked back as conservatives noted such speech is protected by the First Amendment.
Vance urged the public to report anyone celebrating Kirk’s death to their employers and has vowed to look into left-wing groups that he claimed have fomented violence.
And Trump on Tuesday reacted with anger to Kimmel going back on the air, suggesting he would pressure ABC over the decision.
“I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
