American television host Jimmy Kimmel criticised US President Donald Trump and warned about what he described as the rise of fascism in the United States in an address aired by Britain’s Channel 4 on Christmas Day.
Kimmel delivered The Alternative Christmas Message, a programme broadcast annually by Channel 4 as a counterpoint to the British monarch’s Christmas address. The channel began the tradition in 1993 and has previously featured figures including whistle-blower Edward Snowden and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Describing Trump’s second term in office, Kimmel said the president behaved like a king and portrayed recent developments in the US as alarming.
“From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year,” Kimmel said. “Tyranny is booming over here.”
The comedian has been a frequent critic of Trump, particularly since returning to television after ABC indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September following criticism of comments he made about reactions to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel had suggested that many Trump supporters were attempting to capitalise on Kirk’s death.
Trump welcomed the suspension, calling it “great news for America” and urged that other late-night hosts critical of him also be removed. The episode became one of several public disputes between Trump and the media, sparking debate over freedom of speech and press freedom.
Hundreds of prominent figures from Hollywood and the entertainment industry subsequently urged Americans to “fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights”. The show was restored to air less than a week later.
Addressing viewers in Britain, Kimmel said public support for free speech had helped bring his programme back.
“We won, the president lost, and now I’m back on the air every night giving the most powerful politician on earth a right and richly deserved bollocking,” he said.
Kimmel told the audience he did not expect many people in the UK to know who he was, but warned that silencing critics was not limited to countries such as Russia or North Korea.
Referring to the long-standing ties between the United States and the United Kingdom despite their split during the American Revolution 250 years ago, he urged Britons not to give up on the US, describing it as being in a period of difficulty.
“Here in the United States right now, we are both figuratively and literally tearing down the structures of our democracy from the free press to science to medicine to judicial independence to the actual White House itself,” Kimmel said, referring to the demolition of the White House’s East Wing. “We are a right mess, and we know this is also affecting you, and I just wanted to say sorry”.
The broadcast came amid renewed scrutiny of media freedom in the US, including recent Senate questioning of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr following the Kimmel controversy.