Amid pressure from the Federal Communications Commission, Disney’s ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday night over remarks Kimmel made earlier in the week about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Cruz, who is the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FCC, called Carr’s remarks “dangerous as hell,” warning against a future where the government can influence what broadcast networks put out.
“I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying, ‘We’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying,’” Cruz added. “And it might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel, but when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it.”
President Donald Trump, who has said the FCC could reexamine licenses for broadcasters that repeatedly criticize him, called Carr an American patriot in response to Cruz’s comments, adding he disagreed with the senator.
Meanwhile, conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson echoed Cruz’s censorship concerns earlier this week.
But some conservatives are in support of greater government discretion for what’s allowed on the air.
“Under normal times, in normal circumstances, I tend to think that the First Amendment should always be sort of the ultimate right. And that there should be almost no checks and balances on it,” Lummis said. “I don’t feel that way anymore. I feel like something’s changed culturally. And I think that there needs to be some cognizance that things have changed.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told NBC on Friday that the FCC is right to question broadcast networks regarding their licenses.
“The First Amendment must be fiercely protected, but we also impose various regulations on FCC licenses,” he said.
