Jimmy Kimmel controversy makes its way into NYC mayor’s race as Mamdani reschedules WABC-TV appearance

Zohran Mamdani, the Frontrunner Democrat in the race for the mayor of New Yorksaid on Monday that he would not participate in a town hall to come on Wabc-TV, citing ABC’s decision to preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Mamdani’s announcement occurred a few hours before the Walt Disney Company said Kimmel will come back to the air on TuesdayAfter which Mamdani said that he would go ahead and reprogram his appearance.

Kimmel was withdrawn from the air last week after suggesting in a monologue that President Trump’s allies were trying to use Charlie Kirk’s assassination for political purposes. ABC announced that it would “indefinitely” preempt the program after the president of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr said that the network should “take action” on the comments. The owners of the Nexstar station – who need the FCC to approve an agreement to buy its rival Tegna – and Sinclair to both declared that they would draw the show indefinitely before ABC EmbER.

“Last week, Disney / ABC sold to the pressure of Trump’s administration. Millions of Americans helped them find their backbone. Whether you are looking at Jimmy Kimmel or not, today’s decision is a victory for freedom of expression. We contacted the WABC to reproduce the town hall,” said Mamdani during a social media set on Monday evening.

“I retire from a town hall in ABC which was to take place this Thursday,” said Mamdani during his first announcement earlier on Monday. “It is not the government’s work to intimidate the Air Hoste Talk shows. This is not the government’s decision to tell us what we can and cannot talk about.”

A spokesperson for former governor Andrew Cuomo castigated Mamdani’s decision not to participate in the town hall.

“ABC suspended Kimmel was a big mistake, but refusing to speak to local journalists because of the actions of their parent company should pass the person’s smell and the press should not continue to give it a pass,” said the spokesman. “Since the primary, Mamdani was fleeing journalists and refused to answer direct questions of his previous campaign commitment to decriminalizing prostitution, his refusal to apologize for having called the NyPD racist and his wish to grasp the means of production-that is to say to abolish private property, among other deeply detained beliefs of which he tries to keep a cover before election.

Amnewyork was the first to report Mamdani’s plan to withdraw from the town hall on Thursday.

Gatherings were organized in support of freedom of expression on Monday. In California, members of local Hollywood unions and local legislators met to highlight the impact of the program suspension on crew members. During the weekend, People gathered in Times Square for a rally of freedom of expression To denounce the suspension of ABC of Kimmel.

President Trump last week also floated Revoke television broadcast licenses for networks that cover it negatively.

“They only give me a bad publicity or a bad press,” Trump said by returning from his recent state visit to the United Kingdom. “I mean, they get a license. I think maybe their license should be removed. It will be at Brendan Carr.”

Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.