WASHINGTON ― A growing number of Republicans are speaking out against Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr and his comments threatening to take action against Disney’s ABC last week, following the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), appearing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” called Carr’s threats “absolutely inappropriate.”
“If you’re losing money, you can be fired,” Paul said. “But the government’s got no business in it. And the FCC was wrong to weigh in. And I’ll fight any attempt by the government to get involved with speech.”
Carr threatened to revoke broadcasting licenses from ABC after late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel made remarks about Kirk’s death that incensed Republicans and other prominent figures on the right. Just hours after Carr’s remarks, ABC pulled Kimmel’s show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely from the airwaves.
“I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on a podcast last week. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
But Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight over the FCC, likened Carr’s comments to threats made by a mob boss.
“I gotta say that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas,’” the senator said, referring to the 1990 mob movie. “That’s right out of a mafioso going into a bar and saying, ‘Nice bar you got here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.’”
Cruz made clear he was no fan of Kimmel or what he had said, but went on to say that booting him from the airwaves set a dangerous precedent.
“Going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again. They will silence us,” he added. “They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly, and that is dangerous.”
Several other GOP senators have since backed up Cruz, including Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania.
“Important comments by my colleague on the Commerce Committee, Chairman Ted Cruz. As Americans, we must cherish and protect free speech,” Young wrote in a social media post on Monday.
“Good riddance to Jimmy Kimmel and his disgusting rhetoric. Ted also raises important concerns about the comments of the FCC chairman,” added McCormick in another post.
The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal also praised Cruz and other Republicans for pushing back against Carr’s tactics, warning it might come back to bite the GOP in the future.
“As Mr. Trump and his appointees escalate their use of government to punish opponents and coerce business, Republicans will have to decide if they want to rubber stamp this misuse of regulatory and prosecutorial power,” the editorial read. “If they do, they won’t have grounds to complain when the same screws are turned on them by the next Democratic President.”
Other Republicans have defended Carr and praised ABC for pulling Kimmel’s show off the air. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called the FCC chairman “outstanding” and said that “every American should be thankful for his service.”
He accused the media of “dishonestly blaming Carr for a *business decision* unrelated to Carr,” even though his Republican colleagues drew the opposite conclusion.
Trump also defended Carr, calling him a “fantastic patriot.”
“I think Brendan Carr doesn’t like to see the airwaves be used illegally and incorrectly … I disagree with Ted Cruz on that,” Trump told reporters last week at the White House.
The president has also urged the FCC to cancel the broadcast licenses of other networks with late-night comedians, including NBC’s Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.
Democrats, meanwhile, accused Carr of misusing his government position to threaten a private company to crack down on protected First Amendment speech and called on him to resign.
“Donald Trump’s attack on free speech is despicable. It’s anti-American. It’s the road to dictatorship,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said last week. “If you lose freedom of speech, it’s the road to autocracy. Chairman Carr is one of the greatest threats to free speech in American history. He must resign immediately. And if not, Trump should fire him.”