Jimmy Kimmel had just one Republican guest over past three years—Mike Lindell

“To help him conquer his debilitating fear of machines we have installed him inside a claw machine for his interview tonight,” Kimmel said during the episode, a reference to his claims of voting-machine fraud in the 2020 election. Lindell said that Kimmel only agreed to the interview if Lindell was humiliated, per the New York Post. Additionally, Kimmel insisted that Lindell be in the machine "because it's hilarious."

This comes after as analysis from the watchdog group Media Research Center found that Kimmel hosted 13 left-leaning guests and no Republicans so far in 2025. Additionally, the group found in a separate study that a whopping 97 percent of his jokes were aimed at conservatives, with President Donald Trump being his most frequent target at 1,128 jokes. Elon Musk was mocked 154 times, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth 71 times. Former President Joe Biden was only joked about 26 times.

A review of Kimmel’s monologues by the Post found that since returning from summer vacation on September 2, he spent roughly 90 minutes across nine episodes criticizing Trump. Political adviser Roger Stone told the Post that Kimmel has “become a shill for the left and a persistent source of boring unfunny narratives.”

Kimmel’s suspension comes amid a steep decline in viewership, with his audience dropping to 1.1 million in August 2025, nearly half of what it was in January, according to Nielsen ratings. The suspension followed Kimmel’s false claim that the assassin who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk was right-wing, which prompted ABC affiliates to refuse to air his show. Kimmel reportedly intended to continue promoting these claims and had no plans to apologize.

The move has ignited debate, with some left-wing commentators calling the suspension an attack on free speech and questioning to what extent the FCC was involved in the decision.