President Trump claimed Tuesday night that ABC told White House officials that Jimmy Kimmel's show had been canceled over his comments in the wake of Charlie Kirk's killing.
The big picture: Trump made the claim in a Truth Social post about an hour before "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" returned to air on ABC following a brief suspension, as Sinclair and Nexstar continued to preempt the show across ABC affiliate stations.
What they're saying: "I think we're going to test ABC out on this. Let's see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million," Trump said in reference to the network settling his lawsuit over comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos.
- "This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers!" he added.
- Representatives for ABC and parent company Disney did not immediately respond to Axios' Tuesday night request for comment.
Of note: During his Tuesday night show, Kimmel said it was "never my intention to make light" of Kirk's killing, but that "our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television ... we have to stand up to it."
- Kimmel noted that Trump "did his best" to cancel him. "Instead he forced millions of people to watch the show," Kimmel said.
- "That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now."
- Kimmel also responded to a clip of Trump saying his show has no ratings, saying: "I do tonight."
More from Axios:
- What Jimmy Kimmel said about Charlie Kirk's killing
- Where you can't watch Jimmy Kimmel tonight, mapped
- Kimmel breaks silence ahead of suspended show's return
Editor's note: This article has been updated with further comment from President Trump, details from Jimmy Kimmel's Tuesday night opening monologue and further context.
