Karoline Leavitt says Barack Obama doesn’t know 'what he's talking about' over Jimmy Kimmel remarks

WASHINGTON, DC: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on claims from former President Barack Obama about Jimmy Kimmel's firing.

Leavitt said he was wrong to suggest the Trump administration had pressured ABC over Kimmel’s firing.

Barack Obama blames Trump administration after Jimmy Kimmel’s removal

Obama’s comments came after Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was shelved following remarks he made about Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“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,” Obama wrote on X on Thursday after the show was pulled by ABC.

The incident marked one of the sharpest clashes between the White House and a former president in recent weeks.

Karoline Leavitt rejects Barack Obama’s allegation against White House

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night program was suspended following his comments about Robinson. 

Leavitt addressed the allegation during her appearance on Fox News on Saturday, stating: “With all due respect to former President Obama, he has no idea what he is talking about."

"The decision to fire Jimmy Kimmel and to cancel his show came from executives at ABC. That has now been reported,” Leavitt said.

She added that the White House had no role in the decision. “I can assure you it did not come from the White House and there was no pressure given from the president of the United States."

Karoline Leavitt says she broke the news to Donald Trump 

Leavitt said she broke Jimmy Kimmel's news to President Trump when they were enjoying a state visit to the UK

She added, "How do I know that? Because I was with the president of the United States when this news broke in the United Kingdom. We were enjoying the beautiful and spectacular state visit that was put forth by the Royal Family and the prime minister of the UK, Keir Starmer,” said Leavitt.

“And I actually brought this news to President Trump's attention, he had no idea this was happening," she said.

"It was a decision that was made by ABC because Jimmy Kimmel chose to knowingly lie to his audience on his program about the death of a highly-respected man when our country is in a state of mourning. That was a decision that he made and he is now facing a consequence for that decision and for that lie,” Leavitt said.

She also pointed to the show’s performance as a factor. “Jimmy Kimmel's ratings are in the gutter and this was probably also a business decision on behalf of ABC,” Leavitt said.

Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks on Charlie Kirk shooting drew backlash

On Monday, Jimmy Kimmel addressed the shooting in his monologue.

“We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said, referring to Trump’s 'Make America Great Again' movement.

His comments led ABC to suspend him on Wednesday. “Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said.

President Donald Trump quickly welcomed the move, calling it “Great News for America.”