In July, he applauded CBS’s cancellation of Stephen Colbert. Last night, he crowed about ABC yanking Jimmy Kimmel, and warned Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers that they could be next.
Soon, the only comedian left on TV will be Karoline Leavitt.
Trump’s attempt to silence those who mock him is straight out of the autocrat’s playbook—and while he has never demonstrated an ability to read, perhaps Stephen Miller reads it to him softly when he tucks him in at night.
Jimmy Kimmel should have stuck to acceptable comments, like suggesting that homeless people be executed. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
But if Trump thinks trampling on free speech will serve him well, he hasn’t thought this through.
By gagging his critics, he’s destroying his chance at the one thing he values even more than Emirati crypto billions: the Nobel Peace Prize.
You see, the Nobel folks really like free speech. For example, this is from their announcement of the 2021 award to two courageous journalists:
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace. Ms Ressa and Mr Muratov are receiving the Peace Prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia. At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions… Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press, it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament and a better world order to succeed in our time.”
Oopsy! In addition to his War on Laughter, Trump might want to rethink his $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times. Nobel Prize-wise, that’s kind of a no-no.
And since it bears repeating, let me say what I said earlier this week: as the quislings in corporate media continue to bend their knee to our senile wannabe dictator, I have never been more grateful that I don’t work for one of these craven companies. I work for you.
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