CNN’s Boris Sanchez tried some verbal gymnastics this week — but the tape doesn’t lie.
On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN News Central, Sanchez insisted that Jimmy Kimmel hadn’t really implied Charlie Kirk’s assassin was a Trump supporter. Instead, he claimed, Kimmel was just “making a point” about right-wing finger-pointing after Kirk’s murder.
But Kimmel’s actual words on Monday tell a different story: “We hit new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them…” That’s not nuance. That’s a clear suggestion — false, as it turns out — that Kirk’s killer was MAGA.
Jimmy Kimmel lied on national TV and claimed Charlie Kirk’s killer was MAGA.
Now he’s canceled indefinitely by ABC.
Actions have consequences.
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) September 17, 2025
CNN’s spin comes at a time when ABC’s move to suspend Kimmel is being framed by the left as political censorship, rather than the natural consequence of a host spreading misinformation in the middle of a national tragedy. Sanchez highlighted the timing, noting that ABC acted only after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr warned about Kimmel’s conduct and after affiliate giants Nexstar and Sinclair announced they would stop carrying the show. He pointed out Nexstar’s pending Tegna deal, suggesting regulatory politics could be at play.
Yet what Sanchez left unsaid is critical: Kimmel wasn’t suspended in a vacuum. His comments came on the heels of other public figures — from MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd to Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah — losing their positions after making light of or justifying Kirk’s assassination on social media. And unlike Kimmel, the accused killer’s ideology is already on record: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed that Tyler Robinson was steeped in leftist rhetoric, with investigators even finding left-wing slogans etched into his rifle ammunition.
That evidence directly contradicts Kimmel’s narrative. But rather than confront that fact, CNN is trying to reframe the controversy as an attack on free expression and regulatory overreach.
The reality is simpler. ABC’s affiliates didn’t want to carry a show that lied about the biggest political assassination in years. Advertisers don’t want to bankroll a host who mocks the death of a conservative leader while his ratings nosedive. And the FCC has a duty to scrutinize broadcasters when they fail to meet standards of public interest.
