Trump’s free speech: Control the Truth
Late-night satire is under siege in Donald Trump’s second presidency, as Colbert faces cancellation, Kimmel is banned, and others face pressure, exposing a battle over free speech and dissent in America. | Today’s Political Cartoon.
In Donald Trump’s America, late-night comedians are cast as enemies of the state.
Stephen Colbert’s CBS programme is being cancelled, and Jimmy Kimmel has been banned from ABC. Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon are also under pressure, as satire itself becomes a political battleground in the United States since Trump’s second presidency.
The silencing of late-night critics reflects an authoritarian playbook: control the jokes, control the truth. The instinct to suppress dissent exposes the fragility of free expression when those in power dictate who may laugh and who may not.
GOING FURTHER
Colbert says The Late Show will end after 33 years | BBC NEWS
ABC suspends Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely over his remarks about Charlie Kirk’s death | ASSOCIATED PRESS
Late-night show hosts decry suspension of Kimmel’s show: ‘Blatant assault on freedom of speech’ | THE GUARDIAN
Why is Trump so obsessed with Jimmy Kimmel and US late-night TV shows? | THE GUARDIAN
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▪ This piece was first published in Europeans TODAY.
