Should Jimmy Kimmel have been taken off the air? What Americans say in new poll

Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald on Sep 23, 2025

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More Americans disapprove than approve of Jimmy Kimmel being taken off the air, a new Economist/YouGov poll reveals. A majority of those polled also believe the government has no place pressuring broadcasters to remove content it finds objectionable.

The survey — conducted Friday through Monday with 1,551 U.S. adults — comes after ABC News’ parent company announced last Wednesday that it was removing Kimmel’s show “indefinitely.”

The move came in response to Kimmel’s remarks about Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist who was assassinated in Utah on Sept. 10.

“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,” the late-night host said, “and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Shortly after Kimmel made these comments, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr urged ABC affiliates to take action, saying, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

The network’s decision sparked a range of reactions on social media and from prominent public figures.

“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, wrote in his own post, “America is meant to be a bastion of free speech. Everybody across the political spectrum should be speaking out to stop what’s happening to Jimmy Kimmel. This is about protecting democracy.”

On Monday — less than one week after pulling Kimmel’s show — ABC News announced the show would return to air.

Public opinion on Kimmel’s cancellation

In the survey, 48% of respondents said they disapprove of ABC’s decision to pull Kimmel’s show from television. Thirty-six percent said they approve and 16% said they were not sure.

On this question, a massive partisan divide emerged.

The vast majority of Democrats, 83%, and 51% of independents said they opposed the network’s decision, while 73% of Republicans said they favored it.

Respondents were also asked: “Do you think it is acceptable or unacceptable for the government to pressure broadcasters to remove shows that include speech it disagrees with?”

A decisive majority, 68%, described this behavior as unacceptable, while just 13% said it is acceptable and 19% said they were undecided.

Here, again, a noticeable divide emerged across the political spectrum.

Most Democrats and independents — 88% and 74%, respectively — characterized this type of pressure as unacceptable, while a 42% plurality of Republicans said the same.

The survey — which has a margin of error of about 3.5 percentage points — also found Democrats were more likely to watch Kimmel’s show than Republicans.

Twenty-nine percent of Democrats said they watch “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — which airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. Eastern time — once a week or more. Meanwhile, just 8% of Republicans said the same.

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