Brendan Carr accuses Democrats of 'distortion' over Kimmel comments
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr accused Democrats of “distortion” regarding the agency’s role in Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from ABC.
“The reality is, there’s a lot of Democrats out there that are engaged in a campaign of projection and distortion. And distortion is they’re completely misrepresenting the work of the FCC and what we’ve been doing,” Carr said at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York City.
His comments came before Disney announced Monday afternoon it was reinstating Kimmel's show after initially taking him off the air “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for the country.”
The move to pull the comedian sparked immediate backlash. On Friday, Democrats on the Senate Commerce, Transportation and Technology Committee wrote a letter to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the chair, asking that Carr testify to the committee.
In the letter, the senators write that Carr “threatened to use the regulatory power of the FCC against ABC, its parent company Disney, and its network affiliates if ABC did not fire comedian Jimmy Kimmel for his comments” regarding the Sept. 10 fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.
Last Wednesday, Carr told conservative commentator Benny Johnson that broadcasters should, “step up and say this garbage to the extent that that’s what comes down the pipe in the future isn’t something that we think serves the needs of our local communities,” regarding Kimmel’s comments.
Two days earlier, the late-night comedian accused conservatives of trying to “score political points” off Kirk’s death, and joked that President Trump was mourning the conservative activist “the way a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Hours after Carr’s comments, Nexstar Media Group, which owns The Hill, announced it would preempt broadcast of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on its local affiliates, and ABC and its parent company, Disney, suspended the comedian indefinitely. Disney announced Monday that Kimmel will return to the air on Tuesday.
Carr applauded the decision, saying on the social platform X that broadcasters “have long retained the right to not air national programs that they believe are inconsistent with the public interest, including their local communities’ values.”
On Monday, Carr dismissed his role in Kimmel’s suspension, saying that Disney “made the business decision” to take the comedian off the air.
However, his actions have been criticized by FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Cruz.
“Broadcast television is fundamentally different than other forms of communication, including cable news and podcasts and people that sit there on their soapbox. And what happens at the FCC is when you have a broadcast license, there’s conditions, there’s a public interest standard, which means you have to operate consistent with the public interest,” Carr added, noting the public interest standard referenced in the 1927 Radio Act and 1934 Communications Act.
The Communications Act, which established the FCC, states that broadcasters have “an obligation to serve the public interest, convenience and necessity.” However, the law also states that the FCC does not have “the power of censorship” over broadcasters.
