As fortune would have it, CNN’s Jake Tapper was a guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert a day after the bombshell news that ABC is indefinitely suspending Jimmy Kimmel.
Tapper, who was on Thursday’s episode to speak about his forthcoming nonfiction book, “Race Against Terror,” told Colbert that Kimmel’s suspension was a “direct violation” of the First Amendment.
He added, “If we do not have the ability to criticize, mock, investigate our leaders, we are no longer the United States of America.”
During his conversation with Colbert, the CNN anchor made reference to capitalism being the driving force behind the suspension, with affiliates potentially announcing they’d preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live because of FCC pressure.
“The money is causing them to focus only on that and not the important part of this American experiment,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Tapper posted a video about Kimmel’s suspension. In the video, Tapper spoke on how Disney’s CEO Bob Iger has to make a “legacy-defining decision” regarding what to do with Kimmel. This comes as the media conglomerate is seeking approval from the Justice Department to complete its acquisition of Fubo.
