Sept. 18, 2025

Kimmel Pulled from ABC Over Charlie Kirk Comments — Hear the Clip, Maron’s Rant, and Obama’s Response

Show Notes
Transcript

ABC has pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live “indefinitely” following backlash over the comedian’s comments about the death of Charlie Kirk. In this breaking bonus episode of Daily Comedy News, Johnny Mac unpacks the chaos surrounding Kimmel’s suspension — from Trump’s celebratory Truth Social post to the FCC’s ominous statements and Sinclair’s list of demands. Is this a ratings issue, political retaliation, or outright government censorship? With reactions from Marc Maron, Barack Obama, and more, we explore why this could be a pivotal moment for free speech, late-night comedy, and the media ecosystem itself.

The next episode in the feed on Thursday will be a crossover with The Letterman Podcast for deeper analysis.

The normal Thursday episode is the episode before this in the feed.

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WEBVTT

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Caloroga Shark Media.

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This is a bonus episode. I'm Johnny Mack with your

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daily comedy news. It's a little after three pm Eastern

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on Thursday, and the topic is Jimmy Kimmel, Massive, massive

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news story, even beyond the comedy aspect of it, even

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beyond the late night aspect. There's a lot here, So

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I'm going to take my time and go slow. Before

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I dive in, let me just tell you what to

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expect on the feed. Obviously.

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This.

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The next thing you're going to hear on the feed

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is a crossover episode with the Letterman podcast. I just

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finished recording an hour with Mike Chisholm where we talked

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about what is happening, so I'll do a rap on that,

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so that'll be coming out a few hours after this one.

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On Friday morning, you will get the already recorded normal

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Friday episode where I don't talk about this at all.

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I had pre taped that to accommodate my schedule. My

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schedule now thrown out the window. And then on Friday afternoon,

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I will do another Jimmy Kimmel bonus episode. So that's

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what's coming. Let's catch up where we are a little

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after three on Thursday to recap the story. ABC announced

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on Wednesday evening that was pulling Jimmy Kimmel's Late night

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show quote indefinitely, after conservatives had accused Jimmy Kimmel of

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inaccurately describing the politics of the man who's accused of

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killing Charlie Kirk. ABC aired Celebrity Family Feud last night.

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The network did not explain its decision at the time,

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but there was a sequence of events that I will

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break down for you, But I thought the first thing

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we should do is, let's listen to what Jimmy Kimmel

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actually said. Here's the clip.

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We hit some new lows over the weekend with the

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Magga Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered

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Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and

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everything they can to score political points from. And in

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between the finger pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the

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White House flew the flags at half staff, which got

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some criticism, but on a human level, you can see

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how hard the President is taking this.

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I've been dun't without a loftier friend.

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Charlie Kirk asked, sir personally, how are you holding up?

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For the last day and a half, sir, I think

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very good. And by the way, right there you see

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all the Trumps. They've just started construction of the new

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ballroom for the White House, which is something they've been

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trying to get, as you know, for about one hundred

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and fifty years, and it's going to be a beauty.

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Yes, he's at the fourth stage of grief construction, the demolition.

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Construction.

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This is not how an adult grief's the murder of

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somebody called a friend. This is how a four year

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old mourns a goldfish.

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A spokesperson for ABC said in a statement on Wednesday,

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Jimmy Kimmel will be preempted indefinitely. President Trump was in

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the United Kingdom of the past few days. He was

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asked by ITV's Robert Preston about this. Trump said, Kimmel

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quote said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known

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as Charlie Kirk, and Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person.

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He had very bad ratings and they should have fired

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him a long time ago. So you know, you can

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call that free speech or not. He was fired for

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lack of talent. FCC commissioned Chairman Brendan Carr, who had

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made some comments on Wednesday that I addressed in the

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Last Night's Bonus episode. On Thursday, Commissioner Carr said that

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Jimmy Kimmel appeared to quote mislead the American public about

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facts regarding Charlie Kirk's killing. Carr was on CNBC's Squawk

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on the Street and said, quote, We're not done yet

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with the changes in the quote the media ecosystem. Carr said,

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the issue that arose here, where lots and lots of

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people were upset, was not a joke. It was not

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making fun. It was appearing to directly mislead the American

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public about a significant fact that probably one of the

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most significant political events we've had in a long time,

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for the most significant political assassination we've seen in a

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long time. The CNBC host asked a follow up, what

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does that mean when you say you're not done yet?

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I mean we only be pleased when none of these

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comedians have a show on broadcast television. Car replied, No,

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it's not any particular show or any particular person. It's

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just we're in the midst of a very disruptive moment

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right now, and I just frankly expect that we're going

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and continue to see changes in the media ecosystem. One

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of the largest operators of TV affiliates in the United

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States is Sinclair Broadcasting. They said in a press release

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that ABC's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel was not enough.

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The company said Sinclair will not lift the suspension of

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Jimmy Kimmel Live on our stations until former discussions are

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held with ABC regarding the network's commitment to professionalism and accountability.

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They listed demands for Jimmy Kimmel's return, including that Jimmy

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Kimmel should offer a direct apology to Kirk's family. Furthermore,

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we ask mister Kimmel to make a meaningful personal donation

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to the Kirk family and Turning Point USA. Regardless of

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ABC's plans for the future of the program, Sinclair intends

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not to return Jimmy Kimmelive to our air until we're

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conf that appropriate steps have been taken to upol the

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standards expected of a national broadcast platform. Sinclair said in

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Kimmel's timeslot on Friday, they would air a special remembrance

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of Charlie Kirk. Rolling Stone on social media wrote In

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the hours leading up to the decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel,

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two sources familiar with the matter say senior executives at

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its owner, Disney and Affiliates, convened emergency meetings to figure

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out how to minimize the damage. Multiple executives felt that

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Kimmel had not actually said anything over the line, but

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the threat of Trump administration retaliation loomed. Hitting the wires

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at two forty six pm on Thursday, some more comments

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for President Trump. He suggested that the federal government might

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revoke the licenses of broadcast television networks that are quote

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against me, there's a license. I'll give you an example.

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I've read someplace that the networks were ninety seven percent

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against me. Again, ninety seven percent negative, and yet I

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won and easily all seven swing states. They're ninety seven

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percent against They give me only bad press. They're getting

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a license. I would think maybe their licence and should

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be taken away. I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He

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loves our country. He's a tough guy. So we'll have

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to see. So the next thing in the feed is

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that crossover episode with Mike Chisholm. His lead off question

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was asking me about the FCC, and I explained licensing

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all that. So rather than do that here, give me

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two hours maybe, and you'll hear that next on the feed,

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and I'll explain all that. CNN reported as news was

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breaking of Kimmel's show being suspended, guests booked on Wednesday's

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episode We're ready on their way to the theater, CNN reports,

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According to a source with knowledge of the events, Kimmel's

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staff members had been working as usual on Wednesday afternoon,

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holding calls with talent publicists regarding upcoming episodes. Just before

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the decision was announced. One celebrity publicist told CNN, We're

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all shell shocked. Another said, I can't believe this is

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real life. This story is moving so quickly. I haven't

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actually had a minute since it broke to sit down

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and do a full prep. I'm actually working off partial

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notes as we do this. Mark Marin shared the following

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on TikTok.

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It's happening. Jimmy Kimmel has been muzzled and taken off

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the air by his network ABC, who are buckling to

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and trying to appease the next our media conglomerate who

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have a lot of affiliates and they threaten to preempt

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him at the suggestion of the SEC chair. This is

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government censorship. This is the Trump administration coming after people

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who speak out against him. This is the end of it.

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If you have any concern or belief in real freedom

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or the Constitution and free speech, this is it. This

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is the deciding moment. This is what authoritarianism looks like

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right now in this country. It's happening. So if you're

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a free speech warrior or you really talk to talk

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about protecting free speech, this isn't about saying the R

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wor the T word or any of that. This is

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government censorship. This isn't Twitter. This isn't people getting canceled

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because of a cultural pylon. This is the United States

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government silencing voices that they disagree with. FCC Chair car

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put this out. This is his directive. This is the

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US government. Look, if they can come for Kimmel, they

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can come for anybody. This is happening. It's time to act,

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figure it out, find a way, come together, push back

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because if this goes, it's over. It's over.

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Barack Obama on Twitter wrote, after years of complaining about

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cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a

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new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against

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media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commenters

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it doesn't like on truth Social Donald Trump wrote, great

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news for America. The ratings Channell Jimmy Kimmel Show is

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canceled all caps canceled. Congratulations to ABC for finally having

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the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel

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has zero talent, worse ratings than even Colbert, if that's possible.

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That leaves Jimmy and Seth two total losers on fake

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News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do at NBC

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President DJT not leave that there for now, and that

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is a bonus episode of Daily Comedy News. The next

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thing in the feed will be the crossover episode with

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Mike Chishom from The Letterman Podcast. Friday Morning's episode is normal.

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I would do another Kimmel bonus episode Friday afternoon, and

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they'll probably be bonus episodes throughout the weekend as this

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is a huge story. And I'll leave you with this.

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These are the words of Edward R. Murrow from October fifteenth,

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nineteen fifty eight. Murrow said, sometimes there's a clash between

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the public interest and the corporate interest. A telephone call

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or a letter from the proper quarter in Washington is

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treated rather more seriously than a communication from an irate

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but not politically potent viewer. It is tempting enough to

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give away a little air time for frequently irresponsible and

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unwarranted utterances in an effort to temper the wind of

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criticism upon occasion. Economics and editorial judgment are in conflict,

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and there is no law which says that dollars will

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be defeated by duty. What, then, is the answer. Do

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we merely stay in our comfortable ness, concluding that the

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obligation of these instruments has been discharged when we work

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at the job of informing the public for a minimum

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of time, or do we believe that the preservation of

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the republic is a seven day week job demanding more awareness,

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better skills, and more perseverance than we have yet contemplated