Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic frontrunner in the race for New York City mayor, is pulling out of an upcoming town hall on WABC-TV, citing ABC’s decision to pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Kimmel was taken off the air last week after he suggested in a monologue that President Trump’s allies were trying to use Charlie Kirk’s assassination for political gain. ABC announced it would “indefinitely” pre-empt the show after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said the network should “take action” over the comments. Station owners Nexstar — which needs the FCC to approve a deal to purchase rival Tegna — and Sinclair both said they’d pull the show indefinitely before ABC followed suit.
“We simply cannot accept any capitulation to Donald Trump’s attacks on our fundamental freedoms,” Mamdani said. “Now is the time for leadership that fights back with action, and collectively, we must use every tool at our disposal to send a message to Washington and corporate powers alike: our freedom to speech is not a bargaining chip.”
amNewYork was first to report Mamdani’s plan to pull out of Thursday’s town hall.
President Trump last week also floated revoking TV broadcast licenses for networks that cover him negatively.
“They give me only bad publicity or press,” Mr. Trump said while returning from his recent state visit to the United Kingdom. “I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr.”
Over the weekend, people gathered in Times Square for a free speech rally to denounce ABC’s suspension of Kimmel.
Other mayoral candidates are reacting to Mamdani’s decision not to participate.
“ABC suspending Kimmel was a big mistake, but refusing to talk to local reporters because of the actions of their parent company shouldn’t pass anyone’s smell test and the press shouldn’t continue to give him a pass,” a spokesperson for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “Since the primary, Mamdani has been running from reporters and refusing to answer direct questions on his past campaign pledge to decriminalize prostitution, his refusal to apologize for calling the NYPD racist and his vow to seize the means of production — i.e. abolish private property — among other deeply held beliefs that he trying to keep a lid on before election day. He can’t word salad his way out of this one.”
Check back soon for more on this developing story.