Jimmy Kimmel said during his opening monologue on his show that those in "MAGA-land" were trying to capitalize on the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, accusing them of attempting to frame the accused shooter as something other than "one of them" to score political points. He criticized President Donald Trump's reaction as immature, saying it was "not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend," comparing it to a 4-year- old mourning a goldfish. Kimmel also called out Vice President J.D. Vance for blaming "the left" for Kirk's death and mocked some figures' handling of the investigation as "like a kid who didn’t read the book, BS’ing his way through an oral report".

These remarks led to the indefinite suspension of his show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" by ABC after major affiliates refused to air it, deeming the comments offensive and insensitive.