Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from the late-night airwaves has thrust lawmakers, government officials and the president to the forefront of the debate over free speech while also deepening the partisan divide amid the fallout over conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing.

Since Disney announced Wednesday night that it would pull Kimmel’s show indefinitely over the comedian’s comments about Kirk’s slaying, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr — who last night pressured ABC and local broadcasters to “to take action” against Kimmel — on Thursday morning defended his decision and accused the late-night show host of misleading Americans; House Democratic leadership in turn called on him to resign; and President Donald Trump told reporters in the U.K. that Kimmel was fired over bad ratings.

“They should have fired him a long time ago,” Trump said. “You can call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”

Even former Vice President Mike Pence weighed in during an early Thursday morning appearance on CNBC to chide Kimmel for his comments while also expressing discomfort with Carr’s pressure campaign.

“The First Amendment doesn’t protect entertainers from being fired by their employers,” he said, adding, “I would have preferred that the FCC didn’t weigh in in the wake of this.”

The furor over Kimmel’s comments highlights how deeply divided America has become and how somewhat insensitive or even offensive remarks by public figures — and even the general public — have become fuel for those seeking to quelch opposing views.

Carr on Thursday accused Kimmel of upsetting “lots and lots of people” and hinted at going even further though, telling CNBC “we’re not done yet.”

“We’re in the midst of a very disruptive moment right now, and I just, frankly, expect that we’re going to continue to see changes in the media ecosystem,” Carr said.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday was among those demanding Carr resign.

“I can’t think of a greater threat to free speech than Carr in many, many years,” Schumer told POLITICO. “He’s despicable. He’s anti-American. He ought to resign, and Trump ought to fire him.”

Trump Wednesday night celebrated Kimmel’s show being pulled before calling on NBC to cancel “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

Former President Barack Obama on Thursday called the administration’s involvement in Kimmel’s cancellation “dangerous.”

“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 said in a post on X on Thursday.

His comments follow remarks he made on Tuesday night during an event in Pennsylvania, where the former president called Kirk’s killing “horrific,” though he added that he disagreed with many of the conservative activist’s statements.

“We can also, at the same time, say that I disagree with the idea that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake,” Obama said. “I can say that I disagree with the suggestion that my wife or Justice Jackson does not have adequate brain processing power. I can say that I disagree that Martin Luther King was awful.”

The Trump administration has also faced backlash from Democrats and some conservatives after Attorney General Pam Bondi proposed the idea of cracking down on “hate speech” in the aftermath of Kirk’s shooting.

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused the administration of trying to “intimidate” companies.

“We’ve got the Trump administration literally targeting individuals — you saw it with [Stephen] Colbert, now you’re seeing it with Kimmel — anybody that’s criticizing this administration,” Pritzker said. “They’re using the power of government to intimidate companies to fire people.”

Back in Washington, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said her Republican colleagues have “selective outrage.”

“Republicans scream ‘free speech’… until the truth hurts their fragile politics,” she wrote on X. “Jimmy Kimmel gets suspended, but hate, lies, and conspiracy theories run free.”

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.