Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee in the New York City mayoral race, is pulling out of a town hall with ABC affiliate WABC News in protest over the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s show, amNewYork reported Monday.
Mamdani has taken issue with the network’s controversial decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air “indefinitely” shortly after Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, issued a threat to the network and its affiliates over the late night comedian’s criticism of conservatives’ response to the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.
“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr told podcaster Benny Johnson last week. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Mamdani believes that canceling the town hall, which had reportedly been in the works over the past few weeks and was planned for Thursday, will be an effective way to highlight but also counter Trump’s crackdown on dissent, amNewYork noted. He also wants to shed light on the impact a potential permanent cancellation of Kimmel’s program would have on the show’s staff, it added.
