President Donald Trump arrives by helicopter in Aylesbury, England, on September 18. Leon Neal/Getty Images

ABC’s decision to sideline Jimmy Kimmel amid pressure from the Trump administration has led to all kinds of predictable whataboutism from those defending it.

What about the time the Biden administration urged social media companies to remove Covid-19 misinformation, which critics argued carried an implied threat of government retribution? What about when the IRS under Barack Obama targeted conservative groups? Isn’t turnabout fair play?

There are a couple very important differences, though.

One is that that the Trump administration has been extraordinarily brazen about its efforts to pressure and threaten ABC. There’s no real subtlety to it at all.

Federal Communications Com

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