You are not being told the truth about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension or about what people call “cancel culture.” These two things are not the same, and mixing them together is a way to distract people from what is really going on.
Back in 2020, there was a wave of protests and public pressure unlike anything the United States had seen in a long time. Millions of people poured into the streets during the Black Lives Matter movement. It might have been the largest protest in American history, with something like 20 million people involved.
That kind of energy forced companies, media outlets, sports teams, and politicians to respond. Some of those responses were awkward and felt empty, like when Nancy Pelosi wore a kente cloth and knelt, or when the NFL made a late apology to Colin Kaepernick.
Some things seemed performative, like old TV shows adding disclaimers. Some things were more meaningful, like the Washington Redskins finally changing their name after sponsors pulled support. Whatever you thought about those actions, they were all happening because of public pressure.
Everyday people pushed institutions to make changes, and those institutions reacted. That was what people meant when they talked about “cancel culture.” It was messy, inconsistent, sometimes clumsy, sometimes overdue, but it came from the bottom up. It wasn’t the government ordering people to be quiet—it was society loudly demanding change.
What is happening now under Trump is something entirely different, and far more dangerous. After Jimmy Kimmel joked about the MAGA reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Trump administration actually moved to suspend *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* This wasn’t a boycott, it wasn’t advertisers backing out, and it wasn’t a protest. It was the federal government directly stepping in to silence a comedian because the president didn’t like what he said.
Trump’s own FCC chair, Brendan Carr, went on a far-right podcast hosted by Benny Johnson to brag about the move. He even threatened networks, saying they could deal with the Kimmel issue “the easy way or the hard way.” That is not free speech in action. That is the government openly using its power to intimidate and punish people who criticize the president.
Some conservatives are trying to argue that this is no different from what happened when Biden’s administration pressured tech companies to remove COVID misinformation from the internet. But the situations are not comparable.
Even if you disagree with Biden’s approach, that effort was about public health during a global pandemic when misinformation was literally killing people. It was not about silencing a comedian for mocking the president.
If Biden had pulled Sean Hannity off the air just because Hannity was critical of him, the country would have exploded into outrage and division almost overnight. That never happened. What Trump is doing is much more direct, personal, and dangerous.
The irony is almost too much to ignore. For years, the conservative movement has branded itself as the defender of free speech. They said liberals were the ones censoring comedians, writers, podcasters, and anyone who didn’t toe the progressive line.
Many people were drawn into MAGA because of this—comedians who were mad that they couldn’t tell the same offensive jokes anymore, podcasters who wanted to talk about conspiracy theories without pushback, writers who felt stifled by liberal groupthink. They thought Trump stood for their right to say whatever they wanted. They thought he was the champion of the “marketplace of ideas.”
But this moment shows what was really happening all along. Trump was never committed to protecting speech. He was committed to protecting himself and his movement, and silencing anyone who got in the way.
The same people who once claimed to fight for freedom of expression are now cheering while the government itself punishes a late-night host for making jokes. That is not cancel culture—it is outright censorship enforced from the top down.
This difference matters. In 2020, “cancel culture” came from millions of people making their voices heard, demanding accountability, and pressuring powerful institutions. You can argue whether that was good or bad, but it was a form of democratic pressure from below. In 2025, what’s happening is state censorship.
The government is using its official power to decide which voices can be heard and which ones will be silenced. That is far more dangerous, because it replaces public debate with government control. It’s not about protecting anyone’s rights. It’s about punishing critics and consolidating power.
Everything we have always known about Trump makes this outcome unsurprising, but it should still be alarming. He has never respected the First Amendment, despite conservatives pretending otherwise. What he represents is not freedom, but the ability of those in power to rewrite the rules in their favor. The people who believed Trump would protect open debate and free expression are now watching him destroy those very things in real time. And if they are honest with themselves, they might feel a little foolish for ever expecting otherwise.
