Talk Show Hosts v. Trump: clips from Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert plus Brian Tyler Cohen

As Stephen Colbert observed tonight, rising autocracy is now targeting America's most vulnerable - talk show hosts. 

So on their shows tonight, all of the remaining talk shows were talking about Disney's gutless Jimmy Kimmel cancellation and they didn't hold back.

First, let's just remember what Kimmel actually said:

Not a big fan of Jimmy Kimmel, but if you think his show should be canceled for this, you’re a hack and a total fraud who should never pretend to care about free speech

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— Republicans Against Trumpism (@rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social) September 17, 2025 at 6:17 PM

Personally, I think what made Trump explode wasn't what Kimmel said about Tyler Robinson, but what Kimmel said about Trump's own callousness "This is how a four year old mourns a goldfish". 

Here are the talk show clips from tonight: 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight:
Part one

Part two

From the YouTube post about this interview: 

 “It’s both deja vu and PTSD.” Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist and author of the book “How to Stand Up to a Dictator,” sits down with Jon Stewart for a conversation about Trump’s authoritarian attacks on free speech in the wake of Disney taking Jimmy Kimmel off the air in fealty to the president and his hand-picked FCC Chair. Ressa, who in 2020 was jailed in the Philippines for her journalism criticizing the country’s former president Rodrigo Duterte, warns about the similarities between the dictatorship she lived under and the Trump administration. They also discuss how tech companies use authoritarian governments as case studies to inform their algorithms and manipulate democratic elections, and the importance in this political moment for Americans to take peaceful action before their rights are continually stripped away. 

Stewart also said tonight "So many people are living on eggshells, on the whims of one man, whether you're a researcher or a day labourer or a businessman or... there is no real sense of process that could create a ladder out of this hole." 

And it is not only the cowardice of the Republicans, but also of the Democrats, that Americans haven't been given such a process - except for vague "wait for the Midterms" statements.

Seth Myers: A Closer Look
 

Jimmy Fallon

Stephen Colbert
Part one
 

Part two

Part three

Plus, Brian Tyler Cohen gathers clips from a number of conservatives who are talking about the importance of free speech - including Trump himself:
Here are some other interesting comments:

Jimmy Kimmel wasn't suspended because of what he said. He was suspended because the FCC threatened his employer. That's state-sanctioned censorship and it is a GIANT RED FLAG 🚩🚩🚩 that authoritarianism isn’t *coming* it’s ALREADY HERE. Today it's Jimmy. Tomorrow it's the rest of us.

— 50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 (@50501movement.bsky.social) September 17, 2025 at 10:42 PM

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Where it started:

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Where it's going:

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Now the FCC is going after The View - though I'm not sure what Carr is talking about because I thought that Fairness Doctrine had been cancelled by Reagan 40 years ago

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Canceling Jimmy Kimmel show is not about Charlie Kirk, just like going after universities was not about antisemitism and occupying DC was not about fighting crime.

— Molly Jong-Fast (@mollyjongfast.bsky.social) September 17, 2025 at 6:27 PM

good to see, but also kinda wild how the rubicon was Jimmy fucking Kimmel

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— Reconstructionist (@unavaleable.bsky.social) September 18, 2025 at 2:17 PM

I have no idea if this could be true, but wouldn't it be great:

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And finally, this is hilarious:

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