Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas on Friday ripped FCC Chairman Brendan Carr over his attacks on Jimmy Kimmel — likening the regulator to a Mafia boss.
ABC on Wednesday said it was suspending Kimmel “indefinitely” after he insinuated that Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer was a MAGA conservative.
Just a few hours before ABC announced his suspension, Carr had suggested that there was a “strong case” for the FCC to take action against ABC and its owner, Disney.
“He says, ‘We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way,’” Cruz said – quoting Carr’s comments – on his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz.”
“And I gotta say, that’s right out of Goodfellas,” Cruz said in a nod to the classic 1990 mob film.
“That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it.’”
Cruz admitted that he is not a fan of Kimmel and is “thrilled that he was fired.”
“But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying we don’t say what you the media have said, we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like, that will end up bad for conservatives,” he continued.
President Trump – who cheered Kimmel’s suspension – said Thursday that the US government might start revoking broadcast licenses from networks that are mostly “against” him.
“They’re 97% against, they give me only bad press. They’re getting a license,” he continued.
“I would think maybe their license should be taken away,” Trump added.
He said that ultimately the decision “will be up to Brendan Carr,” who earlier called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick.”
During his show’s opening monologue on Monday, Kimmel said: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Carr on Thursday denied that his calls for ABC to take action against Kimmel were linked to the late-night comedian’s anti-Trump politics.
He argued that networks with TV licenses – like ABC, NBC and CBS – have an obligation to serve the public interest, and Kimmel failed to do so by “appearing to directly mislead the American public.”
The day after Kimmel’s monologue, court documents were filed that showed that the mother of Tyler Robinson – the accused killer – told investigators that “her son had become more political and had started to lean more to the left.”
Nexstar Media Group, which owns about 10% of ABC affiliates, said Wednesday that its stations will replace Kimmel’s show with other programming “for the foreseeable future.”
The company is currently seeking approval from Carr’s agency for its planned $6.2 billion merger with Tegna.
Trump on Wednesday claimed Kimmel’s show was axed due to dismal ratings, and took another jab at Stephen Colbert after CBS in July announced plans to cancel his late-night show.
“That leaves Jimmy [Fallon] and Seth [Meyers], two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!” the president wrote in a Truth Social post.
Trump has taken legal action against several news networks and papers. Most recently, a federal judge on Friday tossed his $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times for excessive length.
In the past, Trump has blasted ABC as “FAKE NEWS” – adding that he would support revoking their broadcast licenses.
