The all-powerful king has done it again. First Stephen Colbert and now Jimmy Kimmel, at least “for the foreseeable future.” It was President Donald Trump’s often-stated wish to silence Kimmel. And he has threatened to have Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon shut down as well.

Our authoritarian-leaning and -acting president uses his sycophants behind the scenes to silence voices of dissent or independent thinking. He has done it to law firms, universities, experts, civil servants, judges and the media.

To the comedians who dare speak truth to power, I will follow you wherever you land. I applaud your bravery and integrity as you tell the truth through comedy in the face of personal threat and unrelenting bullying.

— Kelly Shannon, Chicago

What free speech means

The people who claim ABC’s decision to stop broadcasting Jimmy Kimmel’s show misunderstand what free speech means.

Kimmel had free speech. He said what he wanted to say, and no one stopped him. ABC is entitled to free speech as well. It does not wish to continue showing his program. It is entitled to express its opinion.

— Jeffrey Tennant, Naples, Florida

How we should respond

Do you believe in democracy? What is the essence of it? If you think about it, it has primarily two essential elements: the right to choose our leaders and the right to free speech. Everything else stems from those two. I don’t care how you felt about Charlie Kirk; if you are on the left or right, you must not accept Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension. This is no small matter.

I rewatched the segment that led to his show being pulled from the air. He never advocated violence, which would be unacceptable. If he said something they didn’t like, why not just ask for an apology as media used to do? It has to be an excuse to make President Donald Trump happy.

If we want to maintain freedom of speech in this country, no matter your political persuasion, stop watching all ABC shows immediately, so the network sees the effect on its ratings, and flood it with protests. Perhaps watch that time slot one time to see who is advertising on it so you can contact them to tell them you will not be buying their products.

Our very lifestyles are on the line. Whether you like the show or not, whether you ever watched it or not, if you care about your own rights and the future of the country, we must all unite to fight this action.

— Joyce Porter, Oak Park

Actions of government

Random raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, attacks on the media, the shutting down of people like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, the withholding of funds already appropriated by Congress to universities and social organizations, and attacks on law firms are not the actions of a democratic government, but rather those of an authoritarian regime.

Where is Congress? Other than sidewalk protests, where is the electorate?

— John Hester, Indian Head Park

False sense of security

We’re no longer United States citizens; we’re President Donald Trump’s subjects.

MAGA devotees happy-dancing over Jimmy Kimmel’s cancellation won’t be spared the dark truth of governance under presidential whims any more than the rest of us.

Today, Jimmy Kimmel; tomorrow, your guy. Not possible, you say? Ask all the fired luminaries how deep Trump’s loyalties go.

Being aligned with the leader might be making you comfortable, even prosperous. The one thing you aren’t, though, is free.

— Art Collins, Aurora

Give law officers a break

Lately, the Tribune has published stories and an editorial about immigration sweeps in Chicagoland. Although informative, sometimes they miss the mark on telling the whole story, and that makes it appear that the arrests are unwarranted and illegal.

Factually, anyone in this country illegally — convicted criminal or not — is breaking the law and susceptible to deportation. It’s up to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as to how that is implemented. For instance, the recent story (“US citizen briefly detained in latest immigration blitz,” Sept. 17) and the editorial (“ICE must leave US citizens alone,” Sept. 18) about the raid in Elgin are a bit disingenuous. First off, the detention of the people at the home was done so legally. They were handcuffed and held until it was determined whether there was probable cause for an arrest.

Second, not having local criminal records does not mean that people arrested by ICE didn’t have criminal records at all.

Finally, anyone can be filmed or videotaped on the public way, whether it is done by a citizen or law enforcement. There is no expectation of privacy.

ICE and other law enforcement agencies take on enough abuse and attacks (in Pennsylvania recently, five officers were shot, three fatally, during the execution of a search warrant) without the media fomenting some of that anger by not telling the full truth when reporting stories, whether about immigration sweeps or daily police activity.

Law enforcement is a hard enough and deadly job; let’s give officers a break already.

— Robert Stasch, Chicago

We won’t see Kirk grow

No assassination is purely political, and the assassin’s state of mind, biases and rationalizations will be thoroughly analyzed. However, I suspect Charlie Kirk was killed for being the most important person at the meeting; not the smartest but the one who asks the right questions.

In no uncertain terms, Kirk queried if God (nature) or man (technology) was more responsible for happiness. And he questioned whether a thing should be done simply because it could, despite any potential negative impact on moral freedom.

Sadly, we’ve lost the chance to see him grow old and learn how his views might have changed over the years.

— Phil Balsano, Naperville

Revelations of rhetoric

In Monday’s Tribune (“Deserving of critical label”), Loren Monsess writes that he believes Charlie Kirk never called anyone “a racist, bigot, fascist or Nazi.”

However, on his podcast, on Jan. 18, 2024, Kirk said, “If I see a Black pilot, I’m gonna be like, “Boy, I hope he’s qualified.”

Dec. 8, 2022: “If you’re a WNBA, pot-smoking, Black lesbian, do you get treated better than a United States Marine?”

March 1, 2024: “The great replacement strategy, which is well under way every single day in our southern border, is a strategy to replace white rural America with something different.”

On the social media platform X, Kirk called Islam “the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America.”

Why would Kirk actually need to call anyone a bigot or a racist when his toxic rhetoric did the job for him?

— Brian Collins, Orland Park

Pritzker’s false focus

In Wednesday’s Tribune (“After latest threat, Pritzker says Trump is ‘losing it’”), Gov. JB Pritzker is quoted as saying that President Donald Trump is “losing it.”

Instead of running for president, the governor of our state should be focusing on solving problems right here at home. His deafness to the people will result in his failure to realize his ambition. He has already lost it.

— Bobby Ferguson, Barrington Hills

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/19/letters-091925-jimmy-kimmel/