Jimmy Kimmel’s comments recently drew criticism from President Donald Trump, with the commander-in-chief calling for him to be fired. However, Kimmel might have just gotten an ally who seems to be his political opposite: Senator Ted Cruz. That said, this might not be the first time in recent months that Cruz came to Kimmel’s defense.
President Donald Trump Called For Jimmy Kimmel’s Termination Following A Joke Concerning First Lady Melania Trump
After previously calling on Disney to fire Kimmel last year, President Donald Trump renewed those demands late last month after Jimmy Kimmel made jokes at First Lady Melania Trump’s expense on his namesake show. This came out on April 23, in which Kimmel aired a mock roast of Trump on the show. At the time, he described Melania as an “expectant widow.”
After a gunman attempted to storm the event on April 25, the first lady issued a public rebuke of Kimmel. In addition, President Trump called on Disney and ABC to fire Kimmel on Truth Social. Following this, FCC chair Brendan Carr launched a review of ABC’s broadcast licenses.
For his part, Kimmel defended the joke, saying it was in reference to the president’s age. He also claimed that Trump later made a similar joke about death at an event with King Charles on April 28.
Ted Cruz Previously Appeared To Defend Kimmel Around The Time Of His September Suspension
On his late show, Kimmel shared, “Wait a minute. Did he just make a joke about his death? My god, you should be fired for that. Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age, and then a day later, go out and make a joke about his own old age.”
However, since then, Kimmel has found an unlikely ally in Ted Cruz. Cruz previously became a close ally of Trump after losing to him in the 2016 primary. Speaking with Punchbowl News, Cruz shared, “It is not government’s job to censor speech, and I do not believe the FCC should operate as the speech police.”
As noted by Variety, this isn’t the first time Cruz has defended Kimmel. This was back in September, when Kimmel was briefly removed from the air following comments made about assassinated political commentator Charlie Kirk. As the outlet noted, Cruz admitted that he “hates what Kimmel said.” Despite this, he described Carr and the FCC as sounding like a “mafioso” when they threatened ABC’s broadcast licenses.
Cruz continued, “That will end up bad for conservatives. There will come a time when a Democrat wins again, wins the White House. They will get rid of everything America that’s conservative. They’ll get rid of every podcast. They’ll get rid of everything. They will silence us.”
Ted Cruz slams Carr for threatening the media:
“What he said there is dangerous as hell…That’s right out of a mafioso…It might feel good right now to threaten Kimmel, but when it is used to silence conservatives in America, we will regret it” (2025) pic.twitter.com/aSeieadsL1 https://t.co/TogIX2Uxkf
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 28, 2026
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John Witiw has been a writer since at least 2015. He’s covered a variety of topics, especially when it comes to film and television.