For the first time in more than two decades, millions of Americans were unable to tune in to Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday. Even as the show returned to ABC after its dramatic hiatus, in dozens of American cities—from Des Moines to Dallas—the nation’s largest local affiliate chains, Nexstar and Sinclair, continued to keep his show off the air.
The broadcasters’ continued pre-empting of Kimmel’s show is the latest twist in a week-long saga sparked by one line in the comedian’s Sept. 15 monologue: “The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
