Threats of leftist violence and ugliness once again menaced anyone wishing to commemorate the life of Charlie Kirk in peace.
Without much warning, the Sinclair Broadcast Group halted plans to broadcast a tribute to Charlie Kirk in the same time slot as the suspended "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show. According to reports, multiple local ABC affiliates received a number of credible threats to their people and facilities prior to Friday’s scheduled airing of the tribute.
Remember that last week, the lobby of an ABC TV station in Sacramento was on the receiving end of three bullets fired from outside of KXTV-TV, ABC News10, which is not owned by Sinclair. Authorities have since arrested the alleged shooter, a 64-year-old man. No motive has been confirmed, but our Catherine Selgado has reported that the rumor is he’s an “anti-Trumper.”
The Sinclair Broadcast Group owns 30 ABC affiliates across the country. Last Wednesday, Sinclair said it would preempt ABC programming and broadcast its own tribute “in remembrance of Charlie Kirk.” This was in response to Kimmel’s mean-spirited and untrue comments about the Kirk assassination. ABC has since said Kimmel is now returning to the airwaves.
At the time Sinclair announced the Charlie Kirk tribute, it made a unilateral decision to preempt the Kimmel show even before it was suspended. Sinclair said it would not air the show unless Jimmy Kimmel apologizes and makes a donation to Turning Point USA and the Kirk family.
But according to The Post Millennial, on Friday, minutes before the tribute was to air on the Sinclair stations, the stations conceded to multiple threats of violence by deciding not to air the tribute but rather to post it to YouTube.
The Post Millennial reported that “a source close to the situation” said that these were “’local threats directed at specific local ABC stations resulting from [the] ABC suspension’ of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.” The source then said that Sinclair reached out to the police and its own private security firms to bolster security around its local affiliates.
In a statement, the company said Friday night that it would “continue to air ABC network programming as scheduled in the late-night time period.”
Again, that was before ABC announced that Kimmel is returning.
Related: The Most Misinterpreted Part of Trump’s Eulogy to Charlie Kirk
Last night, Sinclair issued a statement in response to ABC’s decision to return Kimmel to the late-night lineup, starting next Tuesday:
"Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming."
The company further said that it is in negotiations with ABC on the possibility of returning the Kimmel show to its 30 ABC affiliates.
Once a situation gets to this point, it’s no longer about reports of threats to affiliates or the business issues at play between Sinclair and Disney. It’s now win or lose. Will Sinclair cave? Will ABC and Jimmy Kimmel cave?
Judging by the fact that Kimmel is already slated to return to his low-rated late-night time slot, he’s already winning. Now it’s up to Sinclair.
We’ll know if Sinclair made its point if and only if Kimmel gives in and apologizes and makes those donations. If not, chalk one up to an emboldened Left, its potential for violence, and its continued trivialization and exploitation of Charlie Kirk’s death.
One more thing: If you want to see the Democrats go down to defeat in next year’s midterms and beyond, now is the time to join the battle to Make America Great Again. Without you, America can lose. We need your help to succeed!
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