Jimmy Kimmel got his show pulled off the air for joking about a conservative's death.
His replacement walked onstage 48 hours after Lindsey Graham died and did it again.
What Ike Barinholtz said on live television Monday night should cost ABC the same thing it cost them last fall.
ABC Learned Nothing From the Charlie Kirk Suspension
Less than a year ago, ABC yanked Kimmel off the air after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called his Charlie Kirk death jokes "truly sick" and threatened Disney's broadcast licenses.
Nexstar and Sinclair – two of the country's biggest affiliate groups – immediately pulled the show from their stations.
Kimmel returned only after apologizing on air, voice breaking, swearing he never meant to make light of anyone's death.
https://twitter.com/FoxNews_Flash/status/2077420310928789819?s=20
Barinholtz apparently paid zero attention to any of it.
Standing at Kimmel's desk Monday night, he acknowledged exactly what he was doing – and laughed about it.
"Mitch McConnell is alive. Lindsey Graham is dead," he told the audience. "There's so many opportunities to get Jimmy's show pulled off the air again. They're gonna pull it off!"
He knew the line he was crossing. He crossed it anyway.
"Guillermo, I know you and him were close friends," Barinholtz said, pretending sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez and Graham were buddies. "You hosted fundraisers for him at the Dave & Busters in Charleston. And I know you've prepared some heartfelt remarks. Do you want to share them with all of America right now?"
Rodriguez played along, declining repeatedly.
Barinholtz narrated it like a funeral bit.
Barinholtz Opened the Night by Mocking McConnell From His Hospital Bed
The Graham mockery was the second attack of the night.
Barinholtz opened by going after Senator McConnell – who spent nearly a month hospitalized and had just released a statement Sunday confirming he suffered no stroke, no heart attack, no broken bones.
https://twitter.com/alexchristy17/status/2077375228020158821?s=20
Barinholtz's response: "In all seriousness, though, I do want to extend well-wishes to Senator McConnell. I hope you get the quality healthcare you've fought so hard to deny everyone else."
That was the warm-up act.
This is what the left calls basic cable comedy in 2026. Mock the hospitalized Republican.
Dare ABC to do something about it.
The Left Thinks Graham Deserved It
Here's what makes this worse.
Lindsey Graham spent 30 years in public service.
He was a decorated Air Force veteran, a former JAG officer, and one of the Senate's most visible fighters for a strong American military.
He stood with Trump when it cost him.
He was scheduled to appear on Meet the Press the morning after he died – because even at 71, he was still working.
The Left doesn't see any of that.
Far-left streamer Hasan Piker called Graham a "bloodthirsty odious monster" within hours of his death.
https://twitter.com/77WABCradio/status/2076724686537228348?s=20
Barinholtz turned his passing into a punchline before the man was even buried.
That's who these people are.
This Is the Template Now
Kimmel established the pattern: joke about conservative deaths, absorb the backlash, come back and claim victimhood.
Barinholtz didn't even wait for the backlash.
He preemptively announced the pattern – "they're gonna pull it off" – and did the bit anyway.
That's not comedy.
That's a political statement wrapped in a punchline.
Kimmel himself started this summer by announcing vocal Trump critic Rosie O'Donnell would guest host while he vacationed.
The show has become a revolving door of left-wing politics disguised as late night entertainment – and now it's openly daring regulators to respond.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr was blunt when Kimmel's show was suspended last fall: companies either act on their own or face regulatory action.
Disney brought Kimmel back after his on-air apology.
Now their guest host just reopened the same wound – with a sitting senator still in the hospital and a second one not yet buried.
If ABC lets this go without comment, the message is clear: the Charlie Kirk controversy wasn't about decency.
It was about protecting Disney's FCC business.
Kimmel apologized because his merger approvals depended on it.
Barinholtz has no such incentive – which means Disney will have to decide whether they do.
Sources:
- Alexander Hall, "Jimmy Kimmel guest host jokes about Lindsey Graham's death and show getting 'pulled off the air again'," Fox News, July 14, 2026.
- Alex Christy, "Ike Barinholtz Taunts Kimmel's Critics With Attacks on Graham, McConnell," NewsBusters, July 14, 2026.
- "ABC suspends Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show indefinitely over his remarks about Charlie Kirk's killing," Free Speech Center/MTSU, September 18, 2025.
- "ABC faces renewed Trump backlash as Kimmel says comments 'not, by any stretch' call for violence," CNBC, April 29, 2026.