Barack Obama on Thursday condemned the Trump administration for its actions in the lead-up to Disney’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night comedy show, furthering the former president’s foray into the charged political climate in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing.

“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” Obama wrote in a post on X on Thursday morning, about 15 hours after Disney announced it was suspending Kimmel.

The comedian came under fire from White House officials for comments he made during a Monday broadcast of his show that appeared to align Kirk’s suspected killer with the MAGA movement.

Democrats have panned the comedian’s suspension, which came after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened consequences if the network failed to take action against the comedian in a Wednesday podcast with conservative commentator Benny Johnson.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr told Johnson, threatening “additional work for the FCC.”

Key Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are now calling for the FCC chair’s resignation.

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it,” Obama wrote, linking to a New York Times report that detailed the Washington Post’s firing of Karen Attiah, a columnist who said she was let go for her social media activity following Kirk’s killing.

The White House and FCC both did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Obama’s comments.

At an event in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Obama himself mourned the loss of the Turning Point USA founder while making it clear that he disagrees with much of what Kirk stood for. And he faulted the current administration for the bleak state of American political discourse.

“When I hear not just our current president, but his aides, who have a history of calling political opponents vermin, enemies who need to be targeted, that speaks to a broader problem that we have right now,” Obama said.

The board of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA voted unanimously to hand over the reins of the group to Erika Kirk, widow of political activist Charlie Kirk.

In a statement, the group said Thursday that Charlie Kirk had expressed to executives that he wished for his wife to take over as chief executive and board chair in the event of his death.

“We will not surrender or kneel before evil,” the group’s board members wrote. “We will carry on. The attempt to destroy Charlie’s work will become our chance to make it more powerful and enduring than ever before.”

Erika Kirk, a graduate of Liberty University, won the Miss Arizona USA pageant in 2012 and went on to start her own podcast, clothing brand and nonprofit organization, and married the political organizer in 2021. Charlie Kirk cofounded TPUSA in 2012.

She is set to speak at a memorial for her deceased husband at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona — home to the Arizona Cardinals football team — alongside President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several senior administration officials.

The influential political organization has seen a surge in interest from young conservatives since the fatal shooting of its leader last week at a university in Utah. In the week following Charlie Kirk’s killing, the group said it had received more than 50,000 requests from high school and college students to start a chapter with the organization’s network or join an existing one.

Erika Kirk vowed to carry on her husband’s legacy in the wake of his death, committing to “make Turning Point the biggest thing this nation has ever seen” in public remarks just hours after authorities announced the arrest of Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah man now charged with aggravated murder.

Republicans intend to elevate Charlie Kirk’s killing as they look to the 2026 midterm elections, highlighting what they call radical left-wing violence and aiming to carry on his legacy of mobilizing young voters to turn out for Republicans.

Former Vice President Mike Pence urged the country to “resist putting America on trial” in the aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, adding that democracy depends on a “heavy dose of civility.”

Pence, speaking on CNBC on Thursday morning, said the person suspected of killing Kirk should be “brought to justice,” and acknowledged that Americans can improve the way they engage in political discourse. But he asserted that First Amendment rights should be defended in the wake of Kirk’s legacy.

“I think democracy depends on heavy doses of civility,” he said in the interview. “But Charlie Kirk was a champion of the First Amendment, a champion of free and open debate. He ultimately died defending it. And I think on that principle, we should stand and ensure that it’s part of his legacy.”

Handfuls of individuals have been targeted online for their comments on Kirk’s death, sparking firings across media and education. In recent days, the Pentagon has cracked down on employees accused of mocking Kirk’s death online, leading to firings and suspensions surrounding their posts.

Pence noted that the First Amendment does not protect “entertainers” from being fired, after Disney moved to pull Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show from its programming Wednesday, saying the comedian “crossed a line, and he answered for it.”

“That’s how a private marketplace works,” he said.

Kimmel came under fire from the right this week after saying on his show that conservatives were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.”

In the interview, Pence pointed to the Black Lives Matter protests in Minnesota in 2020 as a moment of political turmoil, when he said individuals were delivering supplies like bricks and crowbars to vandalize the windows of local store owners — reports that the Anti-Defamation League has claimed are disproven.

“If there are organizations, interests or resources that are supporting anarchy in this country, I think they need to answer for that,” he said.

Pence continued, saying he believes America doesn’t have a “political” problem, but instead a “moral” one.

“We should follow the facts, and I think we need to resist putting America on trial every time evil claims the heart of someone and they do violence against one of our countrymen,” he said.