FCC chairman and Trump attack dog Brendan Carr revealed the next show he’ll “look into” after his threats against Jimmy Kimmel prompted ABC to yank the comedian off the air.
Carr spoke to conservative commentator Scott Jennings Thursday afternoon, and Jennings pondered if the FCC could do to shows like The View and Late Night with Seth Meyers what it did to Kimmel.
Carr said it is worthwhile to “look into” The View, but not necessarily as a target for cancellation—at least, not yet.
“I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether The View and some of the programs that you have still qualify as bona fide news programs and therefore exempt from the equal opportunity regime that Congress has put in place,” said Carr.
Carr is referring to the “equal opportunity rule” that states networks must provide a similar amount of time to opposing candidates running for government office. A “bona fide news” exception to the rule says that if a show is classified as a “bona fide news program,” it doesn’t have to abide by the equal opportunity rule.
Typical late night TV talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon are considered bona fide news programs and thus are exempt from the equal opportunity rule. The View, started by the late journalist Barbara Walters, currently has that status.
If the FCC revokes the “bona fide” status of talk shows like The View and The Tonight Show, the shows would be forced to give equal time to opposing political viewpoints or remove political content and commentary on current events altogether, effectively neutering the programs as they air today.
Kimmel was taken off the air for saying “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 told conservative YouTuber Benny Johnson that the comments amounted to “misinformation” about the motivations for Kirk’s alleged killer Tyler Robinson.
The View, which airs on ABC, did not mention Kimmel at all when it aired the day after the show was suspended by the network.
The Daily Beast has reached out to The View for comment.
