Trump's fragile ego has ended his dictator dreams
He cancelled Kimmel to silence opposition, but he only motivated it
As much as I stress that Trump lacks the capability to be a dictator, it doesn’t mean he lacks the intention to be one. It’s clear from day one of Trump’s second term that he saw himself as America’s king. However, as his term has dragged on, Trump has become increasingly authoritarian, driven by frustration as his failures accumulate. But I believe Trump finally crossed a line that America cannot forgive when he got Jimmy Kimmel suspended, all because of his fragile ego.
On September 17th, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled from the air after Chairman of the FCC Brendan Carr had threatened ABC to do just that. While Republicans claim that Kimmel’s show was shut down because of his comments on Charlie Kirk’s murder, a simple Google search shows that’s bullshit. Kimmel’s comments were that the "MAGA gang" was "desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them" and of trying to "score political points from it"1, making clear the comment that MAGA was outraged about wasn’t about Kirk but themselves.
Arrogant from getting Kimmel cancelled, Trump immediately dropped the pretense and started complaining about the bad press he’d get. Trump followed up by declaring that any bad news about his presidency is illegal2, even bashing the First Amendment for allowing the press to report the truth. Trump’s statements make clear that Carr threatened ABC because Trump’s fragile ego couldn’t stand being insulted.
Trump went too far
Trump thought that shutting down Kimmel would silence his critics in the media; instead, it provoked the American people to resist. While Kimmel’s suspension did create fear3 because it resembled media repression in dystopian fiction like “V for Vendetta”, the American public was far more outraged at Trump’s dictatorial action. Hollywood, from its stars and its unions, rallied in defense of Kimmel4, and the public agreed, as a YouGov poll made clear that the American public was on Kimmel’s side. Many even boycotted ABC and Disney for this travesty by cancelling their Disney+ subscription, declaring they wouldn’t resubscribe till they reinstated Kimmel’s show, resulting in Disney losing 4 BILLION5.
The public backlash was so severe that the planned Kirk documentary, intended to appease the Trump administration, never aired. It’s telling that Ted “Cancun” Cruz even spoke out against Carr’s actions6, showing just how badly the Trump administration miscalculated.
The worst-case scenario of Trump’s second term is his administration slowly but carefully taking over the Federal Government as the American public remains clueless. Trump suspending Jimmy Kimmel’s show has 100% ended that fear. Instead of an American public blissfully unaware as Trump destroys US democracy, now Americans see Trump as the wannabe dictator that he is and are rightfully outraged by it. In one move, Trump destroyed any chance of creating a dictatorship, all because his ego was too fragile to accept his failings. And now, Trump made a misplay so big that Cruz, of all people, felt confident enough to criticize the Trump administration over it.
(Image credit: Steve Benson | Copyright 2016 Creators Syndicate)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c203n52x1y9o
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/us/politics/trump-media-news-free-speech.html
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/sep/18/jimmy-kimmel-suspension-sparks-shock-fears-for-free-speech-censoring-realtime
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/jimmy-kimmel-hollywood-reactions-abc-disney-charlie-kirk/6393325/
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kwzgrwdd0o
Your point about intent versus execution is well-taken, FH. Truth be told, WAY too many folks are focusing on the former as proof that we're doomed. It's only a fait accompli if no one stands up. And EVERYBODY is standing up for Jimmy here.
Also, Broom Closet Briefing made mention that TACO would do something this month that would be such a serious misplay, his myth would be unable to survive it. I'm thinking we're looking at just that here.
This speaks to one of the big problems with Trumps attempts to be a dictator which is that the harder he tries to crack down the more likely he is to end up pissing off the normie voters. Remember as Americans its in our nature to HATE being told what to do all the time.