Vance Lashes Out at Obama and Kimmel Over Free Speech Hypocrisy Claims, as Kimmel Suspension Backlash Escalates

By Michael M. Grynbaum and Peter Baker Washington — Nov. 30, 2025

Vice President J.D. Vance, the Yale-educated venture capitalist turned Trump heir apparent, erupted in a weekend fusillade of social media posts and cable news appearances, excoriating former President Barack Obama and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for what he called a “cynical hit job” on his free speech record amid the furor over Mr. Kimmel’s temporary suspension from ABC. The outburst, triggered by Mr. Obama’s pointed X post decrying the Trump administration’s “dangerous” media pressures and Mr. Kimmel’s on-air retort mocking Mr. Vance’s defense of the FCC’s role, has plunged the White House into a fresh defensive crouch, with Democrats amplifying the clash as evidence of authoritarian overreach. As #VanceExposed trended with over 2.5 million mentions, the drama — blending late-night satire with presidential legacy — has exposed raw hypocrisies in the administration’s censorship stance, sending Mr. Vance’s favorability among independents into a nosedive, per a new Quinnipiac poll.

The showdown reignited Thursday evening when Mr. Kimmel, reinstated after a 12-day hiatus imposed by ABC parent Disney in response to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s warnings over the host’s monologue linking MAGA rhetoric to the September assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, opened his return episode with a direct shot at Mr. Vance. “The vice president says my suspension was just about ratings — a fairytale even a five-year-old wouldn’t believe,” Mr. Kimmel deadpanned, flashing a chyron of Mr. Vance’s recent Fox News interview: “Kimmel’s not funny anymore — that’s why he’s off the air.” The host pivoted to Mr. Vance’s own words from a February Munich Security Conference speech, where he decried European “hate speech” laws as threats to American freedoms, juxtaposing it with the administration’s pressure on broadcasters. “JD, you lectured the world on free speech, then cheered when the FCC plays mob boss. Quiet, piggy — or is that just for reporters?” Mr. Kimmel quipped, echoing Mr. Trump’s slur against a Bloomberg journalist. The segment, viewed by 3.2 million, drew a standing ovation and immediate viral traction, with clips racking up 18 million views on X by Friday morning.

Mr. Obama, who guested on Mr. Kimmel’s show during his presidency and joined him for a 2024 Biden fund-raiser Q&A, amplified the takedown hours later with a pointed X post: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.” The former president, whose administration faced its own media tensions — including Espionage Act probes into reporters’ sources — urged broadcasters to “start standing up” for the First Amendment, a call echoed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who labeled the suspension “outrageous” and “a page right out of Xi’s playbook” on CNN.

Mr. Vance’s eruption began Friday morning with a series of X posts, viewed over 10 million times collectively, branding the duo as “elitist hypocrites peddling fake outrage.” “Obama lectures on free speech while his DOJ spied on Fox reporters? Kimmel whines about censorship after years of silencing conservatives? Spare me — this is the real cancel culture mob,” he wrote, referencing a 2013 Associated Press phone records seizure under Mr. Obama. By Saturday, the vice president had escalated to a full-throated Fox & Friends interview, where he mocked Mr. Kimmel’s “toilet-level ratings” — a line Mr. Trump reposted — and accused Mr. Obama of “rewriting history from his Kalorama palace.” “I watched Kimmel every night back when he was funny — before the woke virus hit. Now he’s a partisan hack crying wolf when the wolf pack turns on him,” Mr. Vance said, his voice rising in a departure from his usual professorial demeanor. The appearance, which drew 5.1 million viewers, devolved into crosstalk when co-host Steve Doocy pressed on Mr. Vance’s own September 15 call to “notify employers” of those celebrating Kirk’s death, prompting the vice president to snap: “That’s accountability, not censorship — something the left forgot when they banned Trump from Twitter.”

At Mar-a-Lago, where Mr. Trump hosted a post-Thanksgiving donor retreat, the backlash cascaded into disarray. Aides described Mr. Vance, dialed in from Ohio, pounding his desk during a strategy call, dictating rebuttals while Mr. Trump chuckled at the “O-bummer” nicknames flooding Truth Social. “JD’s got the fire — but this Obama-Kimmel tag team is a trap,” one senior adviser said anonymously, noting the Quinnipiac survey showing Mr. Vance’s approval dipping to 42 percent, with a 12-point hemorrhage among college-educated voters. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles convened an emergency media huddle, floating a “free speech unity” op-ed from Mr. Vance in The Wall Street Journal, but leaks revealed internal qualms: The FCC’s Carr, who praised Nexstar’s preemption of Mr. Kimmel as “leading the way,” faced blowback from Sinclair affiliates wary of alienating advertisers.

The live-TV exposure has dredged up Mr. Vance’s own contradictions, a windfall for Democrats navigating midterm headwinds. In a resurfaced February clip from Munich, Mr. Vance vowed a Trump-Vance administration would “end the era of speech policing,” only to endorse FCC “consequences” for Kimmel’s Kirk monologue — a bit that quipped about “MAGA miracles” sparing the activist from a “book signing gone wrong.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., seized the moment in a Sunday floor speech, juxtaposing Mr. Vance’s Munich lecture with his X post congratulating Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “the new host of ABC’s late-night show.” “From free speech crusader to censor-in-chief — JD Vance exposed: All hat, no First Amendment,” Mr. Jeffries thundered, introducing a resolution shielding broadcasters from “political retaliation.” Even some Republicans demurred: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me., told reporters the administration’s tactics were “troubling,” while Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., urged Mr. Vance on Fox to “dial it back — we need wins, not wars with comedians.”

Late-night amplified the rout. Mr. Kimmel, taping Friday, replayed Mr. Vance’s Munich clip against his Fox interview, quipping: “JD, you fought for free speech abroad — now you’re fighting for free mics at home? Ratings must be lower than your approval.” Stephen Colbert, relegated to podcast after CBS axed his show in July over a border skit, dedicated an episode to the feud: “Vance calls Obama a hypocrite? Pot, meet kettle — or should I say, Yale grad meets couch?” Seth Meyers piled on: “JD’s erupting because Kimmel and Obama called his bluff. Next: He’ll blame the cat for his Yale degree.” The cross-network solidarity, rare in a fragmented TV landscape, boosted Mr. Kimmel’s ratings 28 percent to 2.9 million, per Nielsen, while #QuietPiggy trended anew with 1.8 million posts.

For Mr. Vance, 41, the eruption underscores a vice presidency defined by intellectual combat turned combustible. Once a Trump critic in his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” he flipped to MAGA loyalty, stumping on “America First” abroad while endorsing domestic speech curbs at home. Allies like Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., rallied on X: “JD’s dropping truth bombs — Obama’s the real divider!” But strategists leaked midterm fears: With off-year losses in Virginia and New Jersey still raw, the free speech fight risks alienating suburban women and young voters, per a National Republican Senatorial Committee memo. “Vance is smart, but this makes him look small,” one G.O.P. operative said.

Mr. Obama, ever the long-game player, framed the clash in a follow-up X thread as a test for democracy: “Free speech isn’t selective — it’s for Kimmel’s jokes, Vance’s lectures and everyone in between. Let’s protect it, not punish it.” The post, liked 1.2 million times, drew support from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks, turning the drama into a cultural flashpoint.

As Cyber Monday unfolded, Mr. Vance retreated to a Cincinnati fund-raiser, posting a defiant video: “The left’s meltdown proves we’re winning — free speech for patriots, not propagandists.” Yet with FCC probes looming and midterms nine months away, the exposure stings deeper than satire: In a nation wired for outrage, one live-TV takedown can erupt into an image inferno. For Mr. Vance, erupting at Obama and Kimmel isn’t just fury — it’s a freefall into the very cancel culture he decries.