Zohran Mamdani, the front-runner in the New York City mayor’s race, on Monday said he was dropping out of an upcoming WABC-TV town hall because of the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show by ABC under pressure from the Trump administration.
“I am withdrawing from an ABC town hall that was scheduled to take place this Thursday,” Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, said at an event on Roosevelt Island, according to a transcript released by his campaign.
“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.
He blasted WABC’s owner, ABC, whose corporate parent Disney
remains mum on the question of when — or if — Kimmel’s show will return after it was yanked under pressure from the Federal Communications Commission because of comments he made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
