Live updates: Trump jabs at Kimmel as his suspension sets off uproar

President Trump, along with allies, lauded Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from ABC, even as it has sparked a firestorm over free speech. 

The late-night host was taken off the air Wednesday over comments he made Monday about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 

Some Democrats have gone so far as to call for Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr to resign, citing his pressure on stations to act. 

“Well, Jimmy 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,” Trump told reporters during his visit to the U.K., dismissing the free speech concerns.

The president departed the U.K. this afternoon after signing off on a “Tech Prosperity Deal” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 

He will return to Washington, where the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee called District of Columbia officials, including Mayor Muriel Bowser, to testify at a hearing Thursday on oversight of the city. It comes just more than a month after the Trump administration federalized police and deployed the National Guard to decrease city crime.

The House is also poised to vote, possibly Friday, on a bill that would avert a government shutdown on Oct. 1 after a procedural vote passed the House on party lines Wednesday evening. 

Democrats have vowed to vote it down, saying a shutdown would "send a message," because it doesn't address cuts to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. The bill on Wednesday night survived a procedural vote on party lines.

Follow along all day for updates.