Sen. Ted Cruz confronted Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday over the government’s role in the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, framing the controversy as a serious free speech issue — before ultimately allowing Carr to deflect by attacking Democrats and moving the hearing along.
The exchange took place during an oversight hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, which Cruz chairs. Cruz zeroed in on the events surrounding ABC’s decision last September to temporarily suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show after comments the comedian made about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old charged with murdering Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
On the Sept. 15 broadcast, Kimmel criticized what he called the “MAGA gang,” accusing conservatives of trying to distance themselves from Robinson and exploit the killing for political gain. The remarks sparked immediate backlash. President Donald Trump and other Republicans applauded ABC’s decision to suspend the show, while Kimmel’s defenders accused the network of bowing to political pressure — particularly after Carr warned broadcasters they could “do this the easy way or the hard way” if they failed to “find ways to change conduct and take action.”
Cruz was among those alarmed by Carr’s comments at the time, calling it “dangerous as hell” for a government official to suggest using regulatory power to pressure a television show off the air.
ABC later announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would return following what Disney described as “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy” about comments it said were “ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
At Wednesday’s hearing, Cruz revisited the episode, telling Carr that the FCC’s public interest standard has historically been weaponized against conservatives. Cruz asked whether Carr agreed that such conduct was wrong.
Carr agreed, saying there were instances when the agency broke from precedent in a “weaponized way.”
Cruz then sharpened his critique, declaring there was another area of agreement between them: that Jimmy Kimmel is “angry, overtly partisan, and profoundly unfunny.” He called Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk “tasteless,” but emphasized that ABC had every right to handle the matter internally.
“ABC and its affiliates would have been fully within their rights to fire him or simply to no longer air his program,” Cruz said. “But what government cannot do is force private entities to take actions that the government cannot take directly.”
Cruz warned that government threats against disfavored content amount to unconstitutional coercion that chills free speech. “Democrat or Republican, we cannot have the government arbitrating truth or opinion,” he said, citing efforts during the Biden administration to pressure Big Tech to censor speech on COVID and elections.
Cruz then asked Carr directly whether the FCC’s public interest standard should explicitly protect robust First Amendment rights to prevent abuse.
Carr agreed — but pivoted quickly to criticizing Democrats. He cited examples from the Biden years, including attempts to block license renewals and congressional letters urging cable companies to drop Fox News, OAN, and Newsmax based on political disagreement. He stressed that cable networks do not operate under broadcast licenses or a public interest standard and argued the FCC must stay within established precedent and constitutional boundaries.
After Carr’s response, Cruz abruptly moved on. “All right, let’s shift to Spectrum,” he said, referring to the Spectrum Act, without pressing Carr further on Kimmel or the FCC’s earlier remarks.
The moment underscored lingering concerns about government pressure on media outlets — and how quickly accountability questions can be sidestepped when partisan blame-shifting enters the conversation.
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