I have long maintained that the only thing that can save our country from Trump and his march to authoritarianism is the American people. The reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show by ABC is exhibit number 1.
Within six days of Kimmel’s indefinite suspension, Disney, ABC’s parent company, announced his show would be returning to the airwaves. The reason was clear. The public’s boycott of Disney was costing it and its investors tons of money. Immediately after Kimmel’s suspension, Disney customers began to cancel their subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu and threaten a broader consumer boycott. The Disney boycott quickly became four times as large as any boycott over the last five years. Disney’s stock dipped about 3.5 percent and continued to trade lower in subsequent days — a loss in market value of approximately $4 billion.[1]
The power of the people voting with their pocketbooks is huge. It may be our greatest weapon in the struggle to prevent Trump and his MAGA cohorts from turning our country into a fascist state.
But the main reason the boycott was so successful is the protection of our First Amendment right to freedom of speech has very broad appeal. Conservative Republican senators denounced threats by the Federal Communications Commission chairman to pull ABC’s license for airing Jimmy Kimmel’s show. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said it was “wrong” and “absolutely inappropriate.” And Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) claimed FCC Chairman Carr’s threats were “dangerous as hell.” Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in Congress have called for Carr to resign.[2]
The question now is what other boycotts would have the broad-based appeal to force Trump’s government to back away from its autocratic policies. One that might fit the bill would be against the oil industry. Right now, Trump is eliminating subsidies, tax incentives and other support for sustainable energy, such as wind and solar. While his war on renewable energy has actually reduced Americans’ support for it from 79% to 60%, this shift may very well be due to linking “climate change and renewable energy to broader culture war issues,” according to one expert. And some Republicans who did support renewable energy have backed off their stances because it could be seen as “disloyal” to Trump.[3]
But Trump’s war against renewables is really all about politics. In 2024, he promised fossil fuel friendly polices to the oil and gas industry in return for their financial support for his campaign for president. Since becoming president, Trump has delivered big time on that promise by signing numerous Executive Orders boosting the industry.[4]
At the same time, Trump’s policies favoring Big Oil over renewable energy is hurting American consumers as well as the environment. While he vowed to cut energy and electricity prices in half, they are actually going up dramatically. Trump’s energy initiative is expected to “cut GDP by $1.1 trillion, add $170 billion to household energy bills, and cut hundreds of thousands of jobs.”[5]
This will negatively impact all consumers, Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike. The only ones who will benefit are the extractive industries and Trump’s ultra-wealthy friends. A well planned, targeted boycott against one or two of these polluting companies could force the industry to change its tune. The boycott would demand that the industry start investing a significant portion of its resources in renewable energy and lobbying Trump to reverse his policies detrimental to the sustainable energy industry. It’s time we the people come together and make our government work for all the people.
Bruce Berlin, J.D.
A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), and his new memoir, From Camden to Kathmandu. He is the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.
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[1] https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-deeper-story-behind-americas?fbclid=IwY2xjawM_gRZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFHQzVpV09rTkd0clpybUphAR4BdDkurB7rjC8xY77nR1160MRUSpEMZ4xrsRLcFH5XVfw8Z7gXVsAfE5B_5Q_aem_vwuITbfolGtuFp3I0oZ77w
[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/22/republican-us-senators-knock-fcc-chair-for-threatening-disney-over-kimmel
[3] https://floodlightnews.org/support-for-renewables-shrinks-as-fossil-fuel-interest-grows/
[4] https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/02/03/trumps-first-executive-orders/
[5] https://nevadacurrent.com/2025/07/09/ugly-truths-about-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-and-energy-costs/
Breaking Big Money's Grip on America 