In the immediate aftermath of the controversy sparked by "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", President Donald Trump has now floated the idea that broadcast networks should face revocation of their FCC licenses if they predominantly broadcast negative coverage—or commentary—about him.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump remarked, "I've read somewhere that the networks were 97 percent against me; I get 97 percent negative coverage, and yet I won, and easily," as reported by The New York Times. On his return flight from the U.K., he further mused, "I would think maybe their license should be taken away." Trump also branded the networks as "an arm of the Democrat party" that is conspiring against him.
The president's latest statements mark a significant escalation in what many are labeling as an assault on free speech. While Trump has consistently lambasted his opponents and members of the Democratic Party, it seems he is averse to the same treatment being meted out to him—especially on television.
The whole fiasco originated from remarks made by comedian Jimmy Kimmel on his show Monday night regarding the alleged shooter who killed right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel ridiculed MAGA Republicans for what he perceived as their frantic attempts to distance themselves politically from the alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson. "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," Kimmel asserted at the time.
These comments swiftly drew the ire of Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr. Carr condemned the monologue material and went on to threaten ABC affiliate licenses if they continued to air the show. "[This] appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into the narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or Republican-motivated person," Carr stated on a podcast. "What people don’t understand is that broadcasters...have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with an obligation to operate in the public interest. When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
ABC eventually "indefinitely" suspended "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". The swift and stern reaction by Disney has drawn its own wave of criticism. As previously reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the decision to pull Kimmel’s late-night show was made by CEO Bob Iger and co-chairman of Disney Entertainment Dana Walden.
The FCC regulates the public airwaves in the U.S., granting licenses to TV stations to broadcast over radio frequencies. While Carr has hinted that the agency should scrutinize other shows, like "The View" (also on ABC), the lone Democratic commissioner on the FCC, Anna Gomez, stated that the agency "doesn’t have the ability to actually take these actions" based on content.
"I see this as a part of this administration’s campaign of censorship and control, and what it’s doing is it’s weaponizing its licensing authority in order to bring broadcasters to heel and to really think twice about what they say about this administration," she added at Axios’ Media Trends summit on Thursday. "It’s not because of the content of these broadcasts, whether it’s the Jimmy Kimmel show or CBS, is actually inciting violence or breaking the law. All it’s doing is speaking about this administration in a way that it does not like that is contrary to the First Amendment. It’s contrary to the Communications Act."
