• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Yesterday

Bully Donald Trump can now claim he made Jimmy Kimmel cry.

The late-night comic did indeed cry at least twice when he returned to “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Tuesday night after a one-week suspension.

In just that one week, Kimmel, 57, went from a late-night host who clowns around every night to a national hero and symbol of the battle to preserve Freedom of Speech in America. 

His transformation was so dramatic that he literally emerged as a Shakespearean figure. 

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon him,” said Malvolio in “Twelfth Night.”

As far as I know, Kimmel was not born great and it can be argued, has not achieved greatness either.

Nevertheless, in the eyes of many, greatness was thrust upon him in the wake of Disney/ABC yanking him off the air last week under pressure from Trump’s FCC for his remark that the murder of Charlie Kirk was a MAGA conspiracy, although no evidence then or now supports this contention.

In his remarks at the start of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday, Kimmel cried during the section of his non-comedic monologue in which he addressed the subject of Charlie Kirk.

“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” said Kimmel, breaking into sudden tears.

“I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” he said. “I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed sending love to his family and asking for compassion, and I meant it. I still do.”

“Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand that to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both,” he said in an attempt to explain what he said about MAGA involvement in Kirk’s murder.

“And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. … I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution and it is not,” he said tearfully.

Despite his tearful protestations to the contrary, it was easy to interpret the remarks that got him suspended last week as finger-pointing.

“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 on his show on Tuesday, September 16.

He was referring to the weekend of September 13-14, when rhetoric from both the right and left was in full flame following the assassination of Kirk on Wednesday, September 10, in Utah.

To Kimmel’s credit, elsewhere in his 18-minute monologue, he spoke out strongly on the subject of free expression, and had no qualms about attacking Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who he portrayed as a Mafia thug.

At another point in the monologue, Kimmel cried again when he talked about Kirk’s grieving widow, Erika, who cited her Christian values when she announced at her husband’s memorial service that she forgives his assassin.

“That is an example we should follow,” Kimmel said, breaking into tears. “If you believe in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there it was.”

Meanwhile, as of yesterday afternoon, conservative station owners Sinclair and Nexstar were still preempting the Kimmel show on the ABC affiliates they own.

With Kimmel back on the air and speaking out about censorship, the best course of action for them is to restore Kimmel, lest they too be seen as censors.