The attempt by Donald Trump and his administration cronies to cancel the Constitution and free speech has backfired bigly. His seething animosity toward Jimmy Kimmel – and anyone else who dares to be critical of him – manifested in an ill-considered and anti-American scheme to muzzle Kimmel and have his program removed from the air.

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Trump’s blatant breach of the First Amendment’s protection of the free press lasted for five whole days. After which, ABC and Disney caved in to the popular pressure to restore Kimmel’s show without conditions. That pressure came from journalists, media executives, politicians, celebrities, and mostly from the American people. And throughout the controversy, all Trump could do was whine…

SEE THIS: Trump Whines that ‘All They Do Is Hit Trump’ and Decrees That ‘They’re Not Allowed To Do That’

Trump’s preposterous claim that failing to be unflinchingly adoring of him is “illegal” is evidence of his toxic disrespect for the law and/or his shrinking capacity to grasp reality. His unbridled outrage was further expressed shortly after ABC announced that Kimmel would return to his program. Trump posted a comment dripping with desperation and hatred to his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social, that only confirmed just how mentally dysfunctional he has become. What follows are a few annotated excerpts from his rancid rant.

“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!”
There is no way that ABC told Trump that Kimmel was canceled. From the beginning they said it was a suspension. And this had nothing to do with ABC News. Kimmel is employed by ABC’s entertainment division.

“…his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly?”
Kimmel consistently ranked as the #2 late night program, following Stephen Colbert. And if Trump really thought that Kimmel was a talentless host with no audience, why the heck would he ever bother with him? The only thing that would do (and did) was raise his profile and popularity.

“…puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”
So what? It is entirely legal – and protected by the Constitution – to be 99% negative toward Trump. That’s actually going easy on him. And where would the jeopardy come from? Trump’s threats of censorship?

“…that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars.”
If Kimmel’s jokes represent a “major Illegal Campaign Contribution” to the Democratic Party, what would he call what Fox News (and Newsmax, OAN, etc.) is doing with their 100% pro-Trump, anti-Democratic content? And his reference to the prior capitulation by ABC is an open threat to abuse his power again by filing another bogus lawsuit. He hasn’t been particularly successful in that endeavor lately.

“A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
Okay! STFU and let him. Or is Trump afraid that Kimmel is giving the American people a more accurate and honest impression of him and must be silenced by any means necessary?

Ironically, Trump and his MAGA minions have argued themselves into a corner. They are contradicting their own claims that Trump and his FCC mob boss – er, chairman – Brendan Carr, had nothing to do with Kimmel’s suspension. They have been saying it was ABC’s choice to suspend Kimmel and just the forces of free market capitalism at work. If so, then why isn’t that true for ABC choosing to return the Kimmel show?

Trump’s flaming bullshittery has resulted in an unexpected boost for Kimmel. CNN’s Harry Enten revealed the spike in viewership for Kimmel on YouTube, where his six month median reach was about 240,000 views. Enten shows that the number has rocketed to 6.7 million, a whopping 2,683% increase. And it is still growing. It has more than doubled, exceeding 13 million, as of this writing. Nice work Trump!

UPDATE: The Nielsen ratings show that Kimmel drew 6.26 million viewers on ABC. About four times his average rating.

This, however, isn’t over. Station groups Sinclair and Nexstar are continuing to block Kimmel’s show from airing on the stations in their markets. They are both companies with pending business that relies on the Trump administration’s approval. So they are seemingly bending over backwards to kiss his…let’s say ring. Under certain circumstances ABC could respond by offering Kimmel’s show to other stations in those markets. And they can also promote viewing in those markets on streaming platforms such as YouTube. They should look into those options.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, here is Kimmel’s monologue on his return to the airwaves…

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