President Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Thursday denied that the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's show was the result of government censorship.

Jimmy Kimmel speaks at the celebration of life for Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant at Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 24, 2020. Kimmel's late-night show was indefinitely suspended in response to comments he made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI UPI British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosts U.S. President Donald Trump at Chequers in Ellesborough, Britain, on Thursday. During the news conference, Trump said Kimmel's show was pulled because he had bad ratings, not because of political censorship. Photo by Lauren Hurley/No 10 Downing Street UPI Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr testifies during an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., on May 21. The FCC head said Kimmel "mislead" the public in his comments on Charlie Kirk's alleged killer, Tyler Robinson. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI UPI Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. On Thursday, the senator called on FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to resign. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI A memorial for right wing activist Charlie Kirk is covered with flags, flowers and messages on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah on Friday. The conservative political activist was killed September 10. Photo by Bob Strong/UPI UPI

Sept. 18 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Thursday denied that the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's show had anything to do with government censorship, saying instead that Disney made the decision based on "bad ratings" and misleading statements made by the late-night host.

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Critics of the Trump administration, however, are demanding Carr's resignation, calling the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! a suppression of free speech.

Speaking during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, Trump shrugged off the suggestion that Kimmel's suspension was an attack on free speech.

"Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk," Trump said.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! finished the second quarter of 2025 with an average of 1.77 million viewers, a decline from the past year. Kimmel's show was second in the time slot behind The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which averaged 2.42 million viewers. Kimmel's show, however, led in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic, with 220,000 viewers, his strongest in a year, according to Late Nighter.

ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air Wednesday after Nexstar Media Group, which owns multiple ABC affiliates, said it was pre-empting the show due to Kimmel's comments about Kirk. Nexstar is awaiting approval from the FCC for its planned merger with Tegna, according to CNBC.

Kirk, a conservative political activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot to death during an appearance Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The suspected killer, Tyler Robinson, has not cooperated with police, but investigators believe the shooting was politically motivated.

In the first few days after Robinson was identified as the alleged shooter, media reports and political pundits differed about Robinson's political leanings. Robinson's family initially indicated his political leanings had been more conservative, like many members of his family, but his mother told police he had "started to lean more left" over the past year, becoming more "pro-gay and trans rights."

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The comments for which Kimmel came under fire addressed the issue of Robinson's politics.

The Make American Great Again "gang [is] 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," he said during the show.

Wednesday, before Kimmel's suspension, Carr described the late-night host's comments as "truly sick" and threatened action against the network.

"This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney," Carr said. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Speaking Thursday, Carr said the decision to pull Kimmel's show was because Kimmel "misled" the public by saying Robinson was part of the MAGA movement.

"The issue that arose here, where lots and lots of people were upset, was not a joke," Carr said in an appearance on CNBC's Squawk on the Street.

"It was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact that probably one of the most significant political events we've had in a long time, for the most significant political assassination we've seen in a long time."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, agreed with Trump and Carr's views that Kimmel's suspension was not a government suppression of free speech, putting the decision entirely on the network.

"What I do know is that ABC is a private company, and they can make their own choices on who they want to wear their brand, so to speak," he said. "So this is a matter of ABC's leadership. It doesn't have anything to do with Congress or anything we're doing here."

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Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, told Politico that Carr should resign. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries echoed the call.

"I can't think of a greater threat to free speech than Carr in many, many years," Schumer said. "He's despicable. He's anti-American. He ought to resign, and Trump ought to fire him."

The Screen Actors Guild issued a statement Wednesday condemning Disney's decision.

"Our society depends on freedom of expression. Suppression of free speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant issues of public concern run counter to the fundamental rights we all rely on," the SAG-AFTRA statement said.

"Democracy thrives when diverse points of view are expressed. The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone's freedoms."