Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic frontrunner in the race for New York City mayor, is pulling out of an upcoming town hall on WABC-TV, citing ABC’s decision to pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Kimmel was taken off the air last week after he suggested in a monologue that President Trump’s allies were trying to use Charlie Kirk’s assassination for political gain. ABC announced it would “indefinitely” pre-empt the show after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said the network should “take action” over the comments. Station owners Nexstar — which needs the FCC to approve a deal to purchase rival Tegna — and Sinclair both said they’d pull the show indefinitely before ABC followed suit.
“We simply cannot accept any capitulation to Donald Trump’s attacks on our fundamental freedoms,” Mamdani said. “Now is the time for leadership that fights back with action, and collectively, we must use every tool at our disposal to send a message to Washington and corporate powers alike: our freedom to speech is not a bargaining chip.”
amNewYork was first to report Mamdani’s plan to pull out of Thursday’s town hall.
President Trump last week also floated revoking TV broadcast licenses for networks that cover him negatively.
“They give me only bad publicity or press,” Mr. Trump said while returning from his recent state visit to the United Kingdom. “I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr.”
Over the weekend, people gathered in Times Square for a free speech rally to denounce ABC’s suspension of Kimmel.
Check back soon for more on this developing story.
Kathryn Watson
contributed to this report.
