Bill Maher Defends Jimmy Kimmel Amid 'Live!' Suspension

Bill Maher is the latest talk show host coming to Jimmy Kimmel's defense amid his show's suspension -- despite not fully agreeing with his remarks that led to ABC benching the broadcast.

Check out his speech on HBO’s "Real Time" Friday night -- Bill rallied behind his "compatriot" Jimmy, later adding ... "I am with you, I support you."

BM also brought up his own firing from ABC 24 years ago, telling Jimmy ... "If this firing goes for you the way it did for me, you’ll get 23 years on a better network." He took another swipe at ABC, calling it the "Always Be Caving" network.

He even condemns the political right, calling the "intimidation" from them "just so hypocritical."

But, he gets why people are upset with Jimmy's remark that Tyler Robinson -- the gunman suspected of killing Charlie Kirk -- is part of the political right. Bill says Jimmy was a bit out of line when he placed Tyler in with conservatives ... but also said he should not have lost his job for it.

Bill goes on to encourage the ladies of "The View" to speak up after they remained silent on the discourse this week ... it's all in the clip.

As you know, ABC placed "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on an indefinite hiatus after FCC chairman Brendan Carr said he would take action against the network if something wasn't done.

Jimmy has remained silent about the shocking news ... but plenty of his Hollywood peers have spoken out in his defense, including Jon Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert.

It's not known if 'Live!' will be canceled, or whether this is simply a temporary suspension.

On Friday, Donald Trump praised Carr for pushing ABC on Jimmy's remarks, calling him an "incredible American patriot with courage."