Zohran Mamdani said Monday he is pulling out of an ABC-sponsored mayoral candidate town hall because the network suspended late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel over comments he made about the fallout from Charlie Kirk’s murder.
Mr. Mamdani’s announcement came shortly before Disney announced Mr. Kimmel would be returning to the air on Tuesday, raising immediate questions over whether Mr. Mamdani might change his mind.
Before that, Mr. Mamdani said his decision to pull out of the town hall was a matter of principle, even as others suggested the Democratic Socialist holds such a consistent lead in polls that he had little to gain from appearing at the event, scheduled for Thursday.
“I am withdrawing not as an indictment of the local [news station] or the hardworking journalists, but rather in response to the corporate leaders who have put their bottom line ahead of their responsibility in upholding the freedom of the press,” Mr. Mamdani said.
He said of Mr. Kimmel’s suspension, “The message that it sends to each and every American across this country is a message that the First Amendment is no longer a right that can be counted on, but rather that it is government which will determine what should and should not be discussed, what can and cannot be spoken.”
Mr. Mamdani has consistently led the polls over his rivals, including Mayor Eric Adams, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Eric Sliwa. He had previously planned to participate in the ABC event.
Mr. Kimmel was yanked off the air after spreading a baseless conspiracy theory that the suspected assassin of conservative icon Charlie Kirk was part of the president’s MAGA movement. He said the MAGA movement was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
The family of the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, later told authorities that the 22-year-old had been moving left politically. He has a boyfriend who is transitioning from male to female.
ABC described Mr. Kimmel’s suspension as “indefinite.”
The network pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from the airwaves after Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, made it clear that Disney should take action against the host over his remarks.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” Mr. Carr said on a podcast.
Subsequently, Nexstar, which owns dozens of ABC affiliates across the country and is seeking FCC approval for a merger with Tegna, which also owns several ABC affiliates, announced it would yank “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its schedule.
President Trump and most of his followers celebrated the news, while Democrats and much of Hollywood railed against it as a violation of First Amendment Rights.
The ACLU and 400 entertainers signed an open letter Monday criticizing ABC’s decision.
“Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” the letter said.
