Jimmy Kimmel & The Misinformation Age – Top 3 Takeaways, September 19th, 2025
Takeaway #1: The Misinformation Age
This just in. My social media feeds, the various algorithms, never feed me Jimmy Kimmel content. That’s because when it comes to Jimmy Kimmel or Steven Colbert or whoever else I truly couldn’t care less about whatever it is that they’ve said. And to be clear that’s not some qualifier compensating for some actual interest (you know the type – those who confuse could with couldn’t and are really compensating for something that does actually bug them). I truly could not care less about their shows, their opinions, whatever. There are no shortage of pinheads with opinions – they just happen to be among the group. But the fact of the matter is that, despite declining ratings, millions (most of them on social media) do. And for that reason, what they say, and what Kimmel specifically said that led to his suspension: We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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. Matters. It mattered to over a million people who for some reason forgot how to use a remote and watched it. It mattered to many millions who watched it online – which is where most of his audience is. It mattered to the yahoos in that room who laughed along with him when he next played a clip of President Trump talking about the construction of the ballroom at the White House. Truly, how sick of a person, how deeply disturbed and broken do you need to be to think that anything associated with the assignation of Charlie Kirk is funny? But the even bigger issue with Kimmel’s comments were, that of course, he was demonstrably lying. But he’s far from the first. While as part of regular practice I do monitor what’s happening on the Goddless, Soulless, and Slanderous Left. I sample a heavy dose of it daily to see what it is that they’re doing and what is often the vile hatred towards our president and his supporters that they’re spewing. For example, of particular interest to me is what’s happening with Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers I like keeping tabs on what the agenda is of the largest teacher's unions to understand what the agenda is that’s filtered into our kids' classrooms. As early as last week in the immediate aftermath of perp being apprehended I saw messages like this which was reposted by Randi Weingarten and is still active in her X feed today: According to Utah officials + police interviews with his family, Tyler Robinson hated Charlie Kirk because Kirk wasn't conservative enough. GOPer's now scrubbing X posts about DEMS faster than DOJ erases Trump name in Epstein files.
Takeaway #2: That’s obviously a straight up lie.
And so, here’s the thing. Let's say that for example you’re a teacher who pays attention to Randi Weingarten, that does find your algorithm, that does find your feed. And let’s say that you sample a steady dose of leftist nonsense while you’re online. You’ll find no shortage of “influencers”, or faux news sources, or in some cases AI animations that reinforce the fake news. And then Jimmel Kimmel’s drivel comes along, and if you had any doubt about whether what you were reading on social media was true, that doubt is likely removed when Kimmel talks about it on a traditional broadcast network, and perhaps you disturbingly laugh along with his bit too. This is how the misinformation age works. Algorithms online create positive feedback loops so that most people only see what it is that they’d prefer to see. This is true on the left and on the right. There usually isn’t a day that goes by anymore when a listener isn’t asking me about whether AI fakes in their social feeds are true. A lot of the fakes are already very convincing at first glance. It was just in June that Oxford’s Reuters Institue for the Study of Journalism found that for the first time a majority of Americans, 54%, get their news from social media and video networks. Btw, you’re part of the 28% who get your news from podcasts and radio. What the study also found was that already 7% of what people consumed as news was entirely generated by AI (what could go wrong there?). So there are large swaths of society that are effectively devoid of reality...and it’s quite likely that many of them do get Kimmel in their feed. So, to bring this back around to Kimmel getting suspended and potentially canned. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has emphasized the importance of licensed broadcasters serving the public interest – which is a legal requirement to maintain a license. In today’s misinformation age that’s probably even more important than it’d previously been. For example, what if those who’d been fed fake news all weekend heard Kimmel share different “news and views”?
Takeaway #3: That could have served the public interest...
Maybe it would have opened the eyes of those brainwashed by the internet trolls, AI fakes and Randi Weingarten’s of the world. Instead, Kimmel opted to demonstrably lie to you evidently hope to reinforce the fake news views. Now importantly, from my perspective, the action to suspend Kimmel wasn’t by the FCC directly, but rather Nexstar Media and the Sinclair Broadcast Group – large owners of ABC affiliates across the country and then subsequently by Disney, parent of ABC. The cynical will say that Nexstar’s pending $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, that requires FCC approval to go through, was behind them making the first move. Earlier in the day Wednesday FCC Chair Carr told Benny Johnson “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead”. You could see how that would be interpreted as a threat. I’m cautious of heavy-handed government agencies. As those on the right have seen from IRS targeting of over a decade ago to the pressure on big tech to censor conservative content and real news (like the Hunter Biden laptop), to the targeting of the finances by pressuring big banks of 92 conservative groups, including Turning Point USA btw, who were targeted more recently by the Biden DOJ. The Left has been more than willing to weaponize government agencies. Should they come back into power again, I have concerns about the weaponization of the FCC. So, I don’t know if the decision to pull Kimmel for now was altruistic or pragmatic. But I do know that Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t serving the public interest (Given his ratings or lack thereof) this may have also been the perfect opportunity and excuse for ABC to do something they needed to do. As always there are two sides to stories and one side to facts. Facts matter more in the misinformation age than ever.