CNN Washington bureau chief David Chalian said Monday on “The Arena” that President Donald Trump’s coalition of supporters was “starting to split” over Disney’s suspension of comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show.
Chalian said, “Here’s what is important to note. When Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air for people on the left, it was like it was a real watershed moment. There was a real — it felt like there were all these data points. When I was talking to sources on the left that had been building throughout Trump’s term in this space, in the Freedom of Speech space, in the democracy, space, and that for some reason, this shook Democrats to the core as a as a galvanizing moment. And I think you see that that was received by the company clearly.”
He added, “What we’re seeing here on the right, I think that you, you know, you saw what Brendan Carr was trying to accomplish. You saw backfire with his own party, right? Ted Cruz coming out and saying he should have no involvement in this. You know, nobody was out there on the right defending Jimmy Kimmel or saying his comments were totally appropriate, but they were saying, this is not a place for government to get involved. And so Donald Trump’s coalition was starting to split on this, and the Democrats were wholly unified in real concern. So it left sort of Disney on an odd island that I think they’re trying to corse correct now.”
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