Trump 'out on a limb' with latest threat as even MAGA thinks 'he's gone too far': reporter
President Donald Trump raged against ABC putting talk show host Jimmy Kimmel back on the air, and CNN's White House reporter pointed to some of the most noteworthy elements of his social media screed.
The president claimed about an hour before Kimmel's return episode aired that the network had assured the White House that his show had been canceled, and Trump threatened to "go after them" for what he called an "illegal campaign contribution" by giving the comedian a platform to mock and criticize him.
"I think we’re going to test ABC out on this," Trump posted late Tuesday. "Let’s see how we do. 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."
CNN's Kevin Liptak reported on the latest developments in the ongoing feud between Trump and Kimmel, who has been a frequent target for his social media attacks over the years before Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcast licenses for ABC affiliates over the host's criticism of the president.
"The timing, I think, was pretty notable here," Liptak said. "The president waited more than a day to weigh in on Disney's decision to bring Kimmel back, which was kind of a conspicuous silence. He waited until an hour before the show aired, essentially trying to pre-empt whatever Kimmel was going to say, and the president's message was one of disbelief, but also intimidation."
"Just to take it piece by piece, the president saying the White House was told by ABC that his show was canceled," Liptak added, and then quoted from the president's Truth Social post. "'Something happened between then and now because his audience is gone and his talent was never there.' So the president saying there for the first time that the White House was somehow involved in these discussions about ABC and suggesting that they were told something completely different from what Disney was saying publicly, which is that this was a suspension."
The president accused Kimmel of being "yet another arm" of the Democratic National Committee and accused him of violating campaign laws, and he then threatened legal action against the network, which had previously settled a defamation suit with Trump for $16 million over claims made by host George Stephanopoulos about his liability for sexual assault.
"It is this threat of action that's so striking here," Liptak said. "He's not exactly explicit about what that would entail, whether this is legal action or some kind of punishment by the government, whether through the [Federal Election Commission], for some kind of campaign violations or through the FCC, and remember, the president said just last week that networks that are overwhelmingly critical of him might have their broadcast license pulled."
"Either way, the president does seem out on a limb here," Liptak added. "Remember, some of his own supporters have said he's gone too far. Whether it's [Sen.] Ted Cruz (R-TX), who said that he was being reminiscent of a mafioso, Joe Rogan, the podcaster, yesterday saying that the government should not be involved in dictating what a comedian can and cannot say. Even the president's own defenders last week were trying to say that this was essentially just a business decision and that the government wasn't involved at all. Now, that argument never really held a lot of weight because you heard the FCC chair threatening ABC beforehand, but now the president sort of completely pulling the rug out of that argument altogether."
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U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro speaks during a press conference. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon