Mamdani cancels televised town hall with WABC News over Kimmel suspension

Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani said on Monday he is canceling a town hall with WABC in New York over Disney’s decision to indefinitely suspend Jimmy Kimmel from his late-night show.

ABC did so following pressure from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over comments the comedian made about the suspect in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 

“I am withdrawing not as an indictment of the local affiliate 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,“ Mamdani said during remarks at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park.

“We cannot understand this moment of authoritarianism as solely coming from the White House, when it is also characterized by the cowardice of those in response to it — the cowardice that we have seen typified whether by the parent company of ABC or by so-called leaders like Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams looking to the White House for their path to their future ambition,” he continued, referring to two of his rivals in the mayoral race, the former New York governor and the current mayor of New York. 

Mamdani’s decision to cancel the town hall is the latest in the continued fallout over Disney’s decision to take “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air indefinitely.

Critics of the move argue that it’s a chilling attack on the freedom of speech, while the White House and its supporters argue Kimmel’s comments were inappropriate given the current political environment. 

The comedian accused conservative Republicans of trying to “score political points” from Kirk’s death.

Kimmel then attacked President Trump, joking that he was mourning Charlie Kirk “the way a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”

He also suggested the suspect in the killing was "MAGA," though reports have circulated that the suspect's politics had moved left in recent years.

ABC’s decision came shortly after The Hill’s parent company Nexstar Media Group announced its affiliate stations across the country will preempt Kimmel’s show over his comments. Nexstar made that announcement after FCC chief Brendan Carr called on local broadcasters to push back in what some saw as an implicit threat.