Criticism — and concern about free speech — is pouring in after ABC abruptly suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! under pressure from the Trump administration.

ABC announced Wednesday that it would take Kimmel’s show off the air indefinitely, after threats from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr to the stations that carry it. Speaking on a podcast hosted by a conservative commentator, Carr took issue with comments Kimmel had made in Monday’s onscreen monologue about Republicans’ reaction to Charlie Kirk’s killing, which the late-night host had previously condemned.

When asked about Kimmel’s suspension at a press conference Thursday morning, President Trump said Kimmel was “fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk.”

“You can call that free speech or not, he was fired for lack of talent,” Trump said.

Civil rights groups, labor unions, Democratic politicians and Hollywood A-listers have condemned the move as an attack on the First Amendment, not only for Kimmel and his writers but for Americans as a whole.