Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show has been suspended “indefinitely” after the US government put pressure on broadcasters to crack down on the comedian, who had accused Donald Trump’s political movement of exploiting the killing of Charlie Kirk.ABC, which Disney owns, announced on Wednesday night that it would remove Kimmel’s show from its schedule for the foreseeable future.“Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said in a statement. Pre-empting means ABC will broadcast another show in the slot instead.The stunning move to remove one of the US’s most influential late-night TV talk shows has been criticised as part of a sweeping government attack on the free speech of critical voices in media, academia and business.This has gathered pace in recents days after the Trump administration and its supporters launched a campaign to target anyone deemed not to have properly mourned Kirk, a prominent conservative commentator.'When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out,' says JD Vance – video Kimmel is the second prominent US comedian in a few months to lose his position: in July, CBS announced it would be scrapping Kimmel’s fellow late-night satirist Stephen Colbert, who boasted the highest-rated late-night show on television and has also been critical of Trump.Trump, who is sensitive to mockery from comedians, celebrated the suspension and called for other shows to be cancelled.“Great News for America,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”Graph showing press freedom in different countriesThe president has said that he also wants late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, who work for competitor NBC, to be removed from their positions.The US-based free speech advocate group the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said the suspension was an example of another media outlet that had “withered under government pressure, ensuring that the administration will continue to extort and exact retribution on broadcasters and publishers who criticize it.