Trump Tells ABC News’ Jonathan Karl That He’ll ‘Go After People Like You’ to Crack Down on Apparent ‘Hate Speech’

President Donald Trump suggested he may “go after” ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl and “people like” him.

Karl, 57, asked the president about Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s intentions to “go after hate speech” on Tuesday, Sept. 16. “A lot of your allies say hate speech is free speech,” Karl said.

The president, 79, responded, “I’d probably go after people like you, because you treat me so unfairly. It’s hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart. Maybe I’ll come after ABC.”

He continued, going on to reference the 2024 settlement between himself and ABC, in which the company agreed to donate $15 million to the future Trump library, plus $1 million in legal fees. The settlement was agreed upon after anchor George Stephanopoulos incorrectly said Trump was found civilly liable for the “rape” of writer E. Jean Carroll when he was actually found liable for “sexual abuse,” a lesser offense.

Trump continued, “ABC paid me $16 million recently for a form of hate speech, right? Your company paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech. So, maybe they’ll have to go after you.”

Karl’s question came after Bondi’s appearance on The Katie Miller Podcast, released on Monday, Sept. 15. “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech, anything — and that’s across the aisle,” the attorney general said in the interview.

Bondi later clarified her comments on X, writing in part, “Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over.”

Trump’s comments come a week after MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd was reportedly fired on Wednesday, Sept. 10 after making comments about the death of Charlie Kirk.

Kirk, a right-wing political commentator and Trump administration ally, was fatally shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. He was 31. 

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After his death, Dowd, 64, appeared on MSNBC Live With Katy Tur, where host Katy Tur asked him about “the environment in which a shooting like this happens,” per Variety. 

“He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups,” Dowd replied. “And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that is the environment we are in.”

“You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place,” he continued. “And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in.”

Variety, Deadline and The Wall Street Journal later reported that Dowd was fired, citing network sources.