Brendan Carr dismissed Thursday calls from House Democrats for him to resign in the wake of ABC pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
The FCC chair told Dana Loesch Thursday that he was “not going anywhere” after several Democratic lawmakers, including leader Hakeem Jeffries, said in a joint statement, “He has disgraced the office he holds by bullying ABC, the employer of Jimmy Kimmel, and forcing the company to bend the knee to the Trump administration.”
“My team tells me I need to stop responding with so many memes, but I can’t help but get out of my head the ‘I’m not going anywhere’ line,” Carr said. “We’ve got an important job to do here, and what I’ve said from Day 1 is we’re reinvigorating the public interest standard.”
Watch a segment from his appearance below:
Carr’s assurance he was not going anywhere came hours after Democratic Leader Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark, Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu, Assistant Leader Joe Neguse and DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene was released a joint statement calling for Carr’s resignation.
“Brendan Carr, the so-called Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has engaged in the corrupt abuse of power,” the statement read.
It continued: “Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s war on the First Amendment is blatantly inconsistent with American values. Media companies, such as the one that suspended Mr. Kimmel, have a lot to explain. The censoring of artists and cancellation of shows is an act of cowardice. It may also be part of a corrupt pay-to-play scheme. House Democrats will make sure the American people learn the truth, even if that requires the relentless unleashing of congressional subpoena power. This will not be forgotten.”
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) also called for Carr’s resignation on the House floor Thursday. The Congressman pointed to the fact that his colleagues across the aisle “would be outraged by this government overreach.”
“We need to be clear about two things,” Pallone said. “One: all Jimmy Kimmel did was speak. And two: it’s not freedom when a private company decides to shut down speech to avoid punishment from the government. That needs to end now, and that means that Chairman Carr should resign.”
Kimmel was taken off the air indefinitely Wednesday, following comments in which he said that Trump and his supporters were trying “desperately” to characterize the shooter who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week as “anything other than one of them.”
Kimmel has not been fired, and sources close to the situation told TheWrap the intention is to bring him back on the air.
The late night host’s indefinite removal from ABC created a media firestorm with reactions from actors, politicians and media pundits speaking out for or against the decision. “Lost” creator Damon Lindelof vowed not to work with ABC or Disney again until Kimmel returned, and Jon Stewart was swapped in for Thursday’s episode of “The Daily Show” presumably to address the issue.
