• Fox News host Brian Kilmeade contradicted President Trump’s claim that Jimmy Kimmel was “fired for lack of talent.”
• Kilmeade defended Kimmel’s abilities but said his ratings collapse and offensive remarks sealed his suspension.
• The clash highlights how Trump’s allies differ over how to frame the high-profile late-night fallout.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (TDR) — Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade directly challenged President Donald Trump’s characterization of Jimmy Kimmel’s ouster from late-night television, marking a rare moment of divergence between the president and one of his favored media platforms.

Trump, speaking both at a London press conference and later aboard Air Force One on Thursday, declared that Kimmel was “fired for lack of talent” after delivering what the president called a “horrible” line about slain activist Charlie Kirk.

But Kilmeade, guest-hosting The Ingraham Angle that evening, told viewers that while Kimmel’s comments had crossed a line, the comic was “a talented guy” whose suspension stemmed from a mix of poor ratings, network politics, and intensifying controversy.

Kilmeade: The point is Kimmel’s comments way too far for television executives… pic.twitter.com/kxIowenlKS

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 18, 2025

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Trump’s “Lack of Talent” Narrative

For Trump, the suspension of Kimmel’s show was another chance to settle scores with a longtime critic. “Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else,” the president told reporters, adding that the late-night host “had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago.”

Trump insisted that Kimmel’s joke linking Robinson — the alleged killer of Kirk — to the “MAGA gang” was not only false but “disgusting.” “He was fired for lack of talent,” Trump concluded.

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The president’s blunt phrasing echoed his broader approach to cultural combat, framing the fallout as proof that the media establishment’s harshest critics of his movement are fundamentally weak performers.

Kilmeade Strikes a Different Note

Kilmeade, however, struck a more nuanced chord. “Well, he’s a talented guy, even if that was not a good joke, and maybe he’s very anti-Trump,” he told Fox viewers.

The longtime co-host of Fox & Friends emphasized that Kimmel’s suspension was less about political retaliation and more about “old-fashioned accountability.” Kilmeade noted that since 2015, when Trump entered the political arena, Kimmel’s audience had been cut in half and his ratings in the key 25-to-54 demographic plummeted by 70 percent.

“When you’re on thin ice with your boss and not performing well, it’s probably not a good idea to tick them off and spout garbage about a political assassination,” Kilmeade said.

Pressure from the FCC and Disney

The dispute comes amid broader controversy surrounding Brendan Carr, Trump’s appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who suggested earlier in the week that ABC and its parent companies could face consequences if they failed to act on Kimmel’s remarks.

Carr’s comments drew both support and alarm. While some conservatives cheered the hardline approach, others, including Sen. Ted Cruz, warned that threatening broadcasters with license revocation was “dangerous as hell.”

Within hours of Carr’s warning, Nexstar Media Group announced its stations would pull Kimmel’s show, and ABC suspended production indefinitely. Reports from Bloomberg indicated that Disney executives were weighing the future of the program in direct talks with Kimmel.

Kimmel’s Next Moves

According to the Daily Mail, Kimmel has been “absolutely livid” about the decision and is considering an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s late-night program to voice his side of the story. That possibility raised the prospect of a joint media spectacle in which two of Trump’s fiercest television critics could rally against what they frame as intimidation by federal regulators.

Despite Trump’s claim that Kimmel was “fired,” sources close to the negotiations describe the suspension as ongoing, with Disney weighing whether to retool the program or end it altogether.

A Divided Conservative Response

The split between Trump and Kilmeade underscores a deeper tension in conservative media strategy. While Trump seeks to diminish his critics by dismissing their talent and relevance, figures like Kilmeade are more cautious, framing the suspension as a mix of accountability and industry dynamics.

For many on the right, the episode has become a proxy for larger debates about free speech, media bias, and the limits of government pressure. Trump’s allies view the outcome as proof that cultural elites can be toppled. Dissenters within the movement worry that wielding government threats against broadcasters risks setting a precedent that could one day be used against conservatives themselves.

When even Trump’s allies can’t agree on how to frame Jimmy Kimmel’s downfall, is the conservative movement at risk of undermining its own case against media bias?

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