Jon Stewart responded to ABC pulling his late-night rival Jimmy Kimmel off the air due to comments about the murder of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk.
Stewart, 62, opened the Thursday, September 18, episode of The Daily Show by declaring he would be proceeding as a “patriotically obedient” host on a “government approved” show.
“We have another fun, hilarious, administration compliment show,” Stewart quipped before pretending to shush the audience as they attempted to boo President Donald Trump. “Don’t f***ing blow this for us!” he yelled.
The comedian then went on to cover Trump’s trip to England by complimenting the president while pretending to terrified before addressing the topic of free speech.
“Our great administration has laid out very clear rules on free speech. Now some naysayers may argue that this administration’s speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy. A thin gruel of a ruse. A smoke screen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitarian intimidation and coldly antithetical to any experiment in a constitutional republic governance,” Stewart proclaimed. “Some people would say that. Not me though. I think it’s great.”
He wrapped up his opening segment with his correspondents, who all wore red ties and blue blazers similar to what Trump often wears, singing a high pitched anthem honoring the president.
Stewart — who also recently blasted CBS for choosing to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in May 2026 — typically hosts The Daily Show on Mondays, though he seemingly altered his schedule in order to react to the shocking late-night news.
A spokesperson for ABC confirmed to Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 17, that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be“pre-empted indefinitely” over comments that Kimmel, 57, made in his Monday, September 15, monologue. Kimmel took issue with Utah Governor Spencer Cox claiming on Meet the Press that Kirk’s suspected killer, Tyler Robinson, had a “leftist ideology.”
“The MAGA Gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel claimed on Monday. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
Kirk died at age 31 after being shot while giving a speech at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10. Police apprehended Robinson on September 13 and the 22-year-old-suspect has since been charged with a capital offense, aggravated murder, and felony discharge of a firearm, as well as multiple lesser counts of obstruction of justice, witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child. He is being held in custody at Utah County Jail without bail at least until a waiver hearing on Monday, September 29.
In response to Kimmel’s monologue on Monday, the country’s largest TV station operator, Nexstar Media, said that “its owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show.”
Kimmel has yet to comment on his suspension, though sources told Us that Jimmy Kimmel Live! staffers are in the dark over the show’s future and what a return to work could eventually look like.
ABC’s decision to bench has been widely condemned throughout Hollywood, including late-night legend David Letterman directly linking Kimmel’s suspension to his feud with President Donald Trump.
“In the world of somebody who’s an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later everyone is going to be touched. But this is me, for 30 years, I did this for a living,” Letterman, 78, said. “I feel bad about this because we all see where this is going, correct? It’s managed media, and it’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. You can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.”
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