Kimmel's show overwhelmingly biased against conservatives, study finds

A new study from Media Research Center’s NewsBusters shows that "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" had a strong liberal bias, with conservatives bearing the brunt of 92% of the late-night host’s political jokes while Democrats were largely spared. 

An analysis of 7,797 political jokes across 369 episodes found that Republicans, Trump allies and right-leaning media outlets were overwhelmingly targeted, while liberal figures and networks were rarely mocked.

More specifically, right-leaning people were the subject of 7,189 jokes, compared to 565 about left-leaning figures and 43 that took aim at nonpartisan targets.

At the same time, the findings showed only one Democrat – former President Joe Biden – made the list of Kimmel's top ten favorite targets, with 336 instances.

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Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel at the Disney Advertising Upfront on May 13, 2025, at North Javits in New York City. (Michael Le Brecht/Disney via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump ranked first on Kimmel's list, with 3,584 jokes at his expense.

Other Republicans and Trump affiliates who made the list include former New York Rep. George Santos, First Lady Melania Trump, former DOGE lead Elon Musk, MAGA supporters and more.

NewsBusters also reported that 97% (61 out of 63) of Kimmel's guests since Sept. 2022 have been liberals.

The findings come after Kimmel's show was indefinitely suspended over remarks the late-night host made in the wake of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk's assassination. 

Amid pressure from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Disney confirmed the decision to Fox News Digital last week after the host accused conservatives of reaching "new lows" by trying to affiliate Kirk's alleged assassin, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, with left-wing ideology, despite prosecutors reaffirming those ties during his indictment.

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Findings from NewsBusters released Sept. 19, 2025, show that 97% of Kimmel’s guests leaned left and 92% of his political jokes targeted conservatives. (Courtesy: Media Research Center)

"We hit 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 doing everything they can to score political points from it," Kimmel said.

Nexstar Media Group, which owns hundreds of television stations, announced earlier it would preempt Kimmel's show on its ABC affiliates starting last Wednesday night "for the foreseeable future" and replace it with other programming over his comments about Robinson.

"Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views or values of the local communities in which we are located," Nexstar's broadcasting chief Andrew Alford said in a press release.  

"Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue." 

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Late-night hosts, celebrities and some lawmakers have rallied behind Kimmel after his suspension, arguing that the FCC and the Trump administration have hindered free speech rights with their influence on the matter.

Some Republicans, including Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, have been critical of the development as well, raising First Amendment concerns.

Fox News Digital reached out to Disney, ABC's parent company, for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

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Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.