Donald Trump’s federal communications boss has doubled down on Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, suggesting local TV stations should have more power to decide who should be broadcast.
In comments made hours before Kimmel’s much-anticipated return on Tuesday night, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr also blamed Democrats for the backlash that occurred after ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week.
“Democrats just keep digging themselves a deeper & deeper hole on Kimmel,” he wrote on X.
“They simply can’t stand that local TV stations—for the first time in years—stood up to a national programmer & chose to exercise their lawful right to preempt programming. We need to keep empowering local TV stations to serve their communities of license.”
Carr’s pushback came amid a free speech war that erupted last week after Kimmel was fired from his ABC show after making comments about the recent killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The late-night host criticized some in the MAGA movement for trying to distance themselves from the shooter, effectively suggesting they were politicizing the murder.
Carr, a Project 2025 architect who now regulates U.S. internet access and communications, then threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcast license, a move Republican Senator Ted Cruz likened to mob tactics.
“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,” Cruz warned, calling the precedent “dangerous as hell.”
However, while ABC and its parent company, Disney, agreed to let Kimmel return on Tuesday night, nearly a quarter of the country will not be able to tune in over the air due to TV station groups Nexstar Media and Sinclair Broadcasting boycotting the show.
Democrats criticized the boycott, condemning it as political censorship. California state Senator Scott Weiner even suggested Sinclair should be broken up.
But Carr defended local TV stations, saying it was a “good thing” to see them pushing back.
In his first comments since Kimmel’s return was announced this week, he also accused Democrats of engaging “in nothing more than Projection and Distortion.”
“Projection because Democrats are the ones that spent years illegally weaponizing government to silence dissent. And it is Democrats that will do it all again—as they are openly telling you today," he wrote.
“Distortion because Democrats want to blame anything other than Disney and their local TV stations for Kimmel’s suspension,” he added.
