Democrats never tire of railing against “authoritarianism.” To hear them tell it, everything Trump does is fascist, Nazi-inspired, or some terrifying assault on democracy. If he so much as waves to a crowd, the left insists he’s mimicking a Nazi salute. When CBS announced Stephen Colbert’s late-night show would end in 2026, they blamed Trump. When ABC/Disney briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel, they blamed Trump again. No matter the situation, the script is always the same: cry “authoritarianism” and point the finger at Trump.
And through it all, the only thing that gets proven again and again is that the Democrats are the true authoritarians.
Let’s look at the Kimmel situation. After ABC and its parent company Disney suspended him for lying about the Charlie Kirk assassination, Democrats freaked out, blamed Trump, and completely ignored the fact that company said multiple times this was a business decision they made because Kimmel had gone too far.
But when Kimmel was brought back on the air, the left still wasn’t happy. Why? Because major broadcast syndicates like Sinclair and Nexstar decided they would continue to preempt his show. They’d made a business decision, too, and that should have been the end of it. A business decision. A content choice. But not for the Democratic Party, which immediately cried “censorship” at private broadcast decisions.
And Sen. Bernie Sanders (S-Vt.) isn’t happy about it. He’s fired off a letter to Nexstar’s CEO demanding that Jimmy Kimmel’s show be restored to Vermont homes and beyond. Sanders accused the network of silencing a critic of Trump at the behest of the president and FCC Chair Brendan Carr, calling the blackout “politically motivated censorship” that undermines democracy itself. “Decisions about what Americans watch should not be dictated by political pressure,” Sanders scolded.
Decisions about what Americans watch shouldn't be dictated by political pressure.
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 25, 2025
Nexstar must immediately restore Jimmy Kimmel to viewers in Vermont and across the U.S.
Broadcasters should not cave in to an authoritarian-type president who can’t accept criticism. pic.twitter.com/Jfy4KBr3S3
The irony is almost unbearable. There’s zero evidence that Trump ever pressured Nexstar or Sinclair to silence Jimmy Kimmel—yet Bernie Sanders went out of his way to pressure Nexstar into airing Kimmel’s show. Let that sink in: a sitting U.S. senator trying to muscle a private broadcaster into running a program it had already dropped. That isn’t defending free speech—it’s trampling all over it. Free speech means you can say what you want, not that you’re entitled to a corporate megaphone when the market doesn’t want your product. Sanders isn’t standing up for liberty; he’s demanding that broadcasters become delivery boys for partisan late-night propaganda. That’s not freedom—that’s authoritarianism.
And here’s the kicker: it worked. Both Nexstar and Sinclair have now caved to Democrat pressure.
This is the playbook of the left—accuse Trump of authoritarianism while practicing the real thing themselves. They literally forced two syndicates to air content the audience had already rejected. Democrats aren’t defending democracy; they’re coercing corporations into carrying their message. When they smear Trump and his supporters as a “threat to democracy,” it’s nothing but a smokescreen for their own willingness to weaponize power against dissent.
Jimmy Kimmel’s problem isn’t censorship—it’s irrelevance. Audiences have walked away, the networks followed suit, and Democrats can’t stomach losing their grip on yet another cultural platform. So they cry “authoritarianism,” when in reality they’re just projecting. They built their entire playbook on bullying private companies into enforcing political obedience. This isn’t a fight against authoritarianism—it’s proof Democrats have perfected it. These are the same people who cheered when Twitter and Facebook banned President Trump and when Fox News booted Tucker Carlson. They don’t care about free speech; they care about controlling speech.
