US President Donald Trump has suggested some TV networks should have their licenses “taken away” after the suspension of late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel. ABC has pulled the comedian off air “indefinitely” after his remarks about the murder of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk in Utah last week.
Kimmel appeared to suggest the suspect was a Trump supporter. Officials, however, have said he was “indoctrinated with leftist ideology”. In his monologue on Monday, Kimmel, 57, had said the “Maga gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and trying to “score political points from it”. He also likened Trump’s reaction to the death of his 31-year-old political confidant to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish”. Kimmel has condemned the attack and sent “love” to the Kirk family in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
ABC axed the show after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) headed by a Trump appointee, threatened regulatory action – raising concerns the Trump administration is curtailing the free speech of its critics.
The FCC’s chair Brendan Carr accused Kimmel of “the sickest conduct possible” and said firms like the Disney-owned ABC could “find ways to change conduct and take action… or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC”.
FCC chair Carr told Fox on Thursday: “We’re going to continue to hold these broadcasters accountable to the public interest – and if broadcasters don’t like that simple solution, they can turn their license in to the FCC.”
The FCC has regulatory power over major networks, such as ABC, as well as the local stations that carry their content. Owners of local stations can also influence major networks by refusing to carry shows.
Trump spoke about the issue to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday while returning from a state visit to the UK. “I have read some place that the networks were 97% against me, again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily [in last year’s election]… They give me only bad publicity [and] press. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away”.
Legal scholars say the US Constitution’s first amendment, which protects free speech, would prevent the FCC from revoking licences over political disagreements.
Former US President Barrack Obama said the Trump administration had taken cancel culture to a “new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like”.
