ABC News and the Free Speech Fight After Kirk's Death

Showing 47 ABC News videos from Charlie Kirk's video collection.

ABC News became a flashpoint in the free speech debate that followed Charlie Kirk's assassination after affiliate stations Sinclair Broadcasting and Nexstar pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live from 37 million households over Kimmel's on-air comments about the shooting, a decision Benny Johnson framed as consequence culture responding to what he called victim-blaming rather than government-driven cancellation, while noting FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr had publicly condemned the original broadcast. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took the opposite position on the House floor, opposing a Republican resolution honoring Kirk's legacy specifically because she said the Trump administration and FCC were simultaneously using his death to pressure broadcasters like ABC over airtime given to political critics, calling the pattern a genuine threat to First Amendment protections regardless of one's view of Kimmel's specific remarks. Commentator Alex Stein raised a separate complaint about ABC News's own reporting, arguing the network had romanticized the relationship between Tyler Robinson and his transgender partner in its coverage of the case rather than treating it with the seriousness he felt the assassination itself demanded. Together, the disputes over ABC's coverage and its affiliates' response captured a broader argument playing out simultaneously across conservative and progressive media about where the line sat between holding broadcasters accountable and using regulatory pressure to punish disfavored speech.