The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel by ABC has had a rather interesting impact on the political world.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr only made it worse by making some controversial comments, which I believe were a bit misconstrued, but nonetheless, I think he would have been better off staying out of this one.
To that point, after Carr made his comments, it was not only Democrats going after him, as at least two GOP senators pushed back, which surely will not sit well with President Trump.
When Kimmel was taken off the air, it was not about censorship and free speech, but rather about being held accountable.
Everyone seems to forget about Rosanne and Alex Jones, who both said what they wanted, like Kimmel, but Roseanne’s show was canceled by the network, which Kimmel applauded, by the way, and Jones lost everything.
Kimmel had stated, "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.”
That is just blatant misinformation, and the network told him to apologize, but he refused. It was not the FCC, but the network knew it could get in trouble, so they shelved the show.
Carr was talking tough on TV about Kimmel, stating, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Cruz did not like the comments, stating, "What he is saying is Jimmy Kimmel was lying. That's true, he was lying, and lying to the American people is not in the public interest. He threatens explicitly—we're going to cancel ABC News' license. We're going to take him off the air, so ABC cannot broadcast anymore. … He threatens it."
He later added, "Jimmy Kimmel has mocked me so many times. The corporate media—they are dishonest. They are liars.
"I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired. But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying 'we don't like what you, the media, have said, we're going to ban you from the airwaves' … that will end up bad for conservatives."
Paul was also upset, stating, "People have to also realize that despicable comments, you have the right to say that, but you don’t have the right to employment. Virtually everybody employed probably including yourself, has a code of conduct. In your contract, you have to adhere to it. NFL players have it, baseball players have it.”
He continued, “If you don’t adhere to that conduct, if you say things that are reprehensible or glorify someone’s death, yeah, you can be fired. The FCC should have nothing to do with it… The government has no business in it. The FCC was wrong and I will fight any attempt by the government to get involved in speech.”
I’m a bit disappointed that both of them hit the censorship aspect of this without addressing the fact that Kimmel was given the chance to make things right, and had he done that, the network would have allowed him to stay on the air
And I do understand Ted Cruz’s point, but late-night TV shows are considered “news” by the FCC, and there is a standard that must be met. Call me crazy, but I think it’s time we end propaganda and purposeful misinformation on TV.