The UK has to be “careful” and protect free speech as debate becomes “more and more toxic” on both sides of the Atlantic, a British satirist has said.
Tom Walker, better known as the ranting fictitious newsreader Jonathan Pie, has issued the warning after US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was taken off air for comments he made following the death of Charlie Kirk.
Speaking to Niall Paterson on the Sky News Daily podcast, Walker said he believes he wouldn’t be able to work as a satirist in America today as the Trump administration appears to be cracking down on those who speak out against him.
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Tom Walker as his satirical creation. Pic: Jonathan Pie
He added: “I genuinely don’t think I would be allowed into the country. That might sound dramatic, but they go through your social media posts. I think Trump thinks that not agreeing with him is anti-American, whereas it’s not, it’s anti-Trump, it’s anti-Republican. So a lot of my posts would be seen as anti-American.”
Walker went viral in 2016 after posting a clip of Jonathan Pie passionately blaming “the left” for Mr Trump’s victory in the US election the same year.
The comedian argued that left-leaning people had “lost the art” of engaging with anyone with a different opinion to them and urged them to “stop thinking everyone who disagrees with you is evil, racist or sexist or stupid”.
Asked by Niall if he believes Kimmel, who has a long history of speaking out against Mr Trump, is partly responsible for the rise of the populist president, Walker said: “No, I don’t… Most of these late-night hosts are left-leaning and Trump is an own goal for satire.
“I don’t think there was much that Jimmy Kimmel said in his monologue the other day that was anywhere near as divisive as the rhetoric coming from Donald Trump or (vice president) JD Vance, so there is an inherent hypocrisy there.”
However, Walker believes “right-wingers” are not the only reason free speech is under a “huge amount of threat in America”.
The satirist, who counts himself as being left-wing, continued: “I think the left have enabled a culture where people don’t feel that they’re able to express their views.
“The left-wing were the flag-bearers of cancel culture. And now it’s sort of coming back to bite us in a terrifying way.”
Kimmel was taken off air months after US talk show host Stephen Colbert had his programme cancelled – something his fans have attributed to his criticism of Mr Trump.
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Meanwhile, the US president appeared to encourage NBC to cancel the talk shows of Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers in a Truth Social post on Thursday. Both presenters are known to have made jokes about Mr Trump in the past.
Asked whether the UK should be worried about free speech apparently being targeted in the UK in a similar way, Walker said: “I think that there are issues of free speech in this country. I don’t think it is quite as bad as what’s happening in America, but we have to be careful. The debate on both sides of the Atlantic is becoming more and more toxic, I think. And it’s divide and conquer. ‘You’re either with me or you’re against me’. And I think both sides have to take some responsibility for that.”
Walker pointed out that when he posted a satirical video on X called “The Death Of Discourse” in relation to the Kirk assassination, he was attacked by social media users on both the left and right of politics.
He added: “I think that’s the problem… We have forgotten how to talk and listen to people that we fundamentally disagree with.”
