How consumer pushback beat Trump’s pressure campaign on Kimmel

The restoration of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show is a clear illustration of the power of consumers to push back on political pressure. Randy Holmes/Disney

The Jimmy Kimmel tug-of-war was about free speech, yes, but it was also about the free market.

This week’s restoration of Kimmel’s show was partly the result of consumer pushback to the late-night show’s preemption.

Feedback from angry viewers, wary advertisers, and frustrated employees all weighed on the executives who ultimately brought the show back on the air despite President Trump’s menacing remarks about Kimmel.

The week-long drama is proof that consumers “have extraordinary power,” former labor secretary Robert Reich wrote in an essay.

“When our outrage translates into withholding our consumer dollars, a big corp