Senate Democrats slammed Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr in an open letter on Thursday, arguing he is weaponizing the FCC in “Trump’s interest.” The letter was published one day after Carr threatened ABC and the Disney-owned network suspended late night host Jimmy Kimmel over comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter.
Senators Edward J. Markey, Chuck Schumer, Amy Klobuchar, Maria Cantwell and Ben Ray Luján were among the 11 politicians calling for Carr to explain his statements against ABC and Kimmel that set in motion the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” broadcast pause. They urged Carr and the FCC to cease it’s censorship of media organizations.
“We are outraged by your comments yesterday on a podcast suggesting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would take action against ABC, its parent company Disney, and its affiliates, over comments made by comedian Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night show,” the letter read. “It is not simply unacceptable for the FCC Chairman to threaten a media organization because he does not like the content of its programming—it violates the First Amendment that you claim to champion. The FCC’s role in overseeing the public airwaves does not give it the power to act as a roving press censor, targeting broadcasters based on their political commentary. But under your leadership, the FCC is being weaponized to do precisely that.”
The letter continued: ““Under your leadership, the FCC appears to be discarding Congress’s clear directive in the Communications Act to ensure broadcasters act in the ‘public interest’—and is instead requiring them to act in ‘Trump’s interest.’ This approach is an anathema to the Constitution. The consequences of your comments were quickly apparent. Hours later, Nexstar—a major owner of ABC affiliates that has a significant merger pending before the FCC—announced that it would take Kimmel off the air. Soon thereafter, Disney announced it was indefinitely suspending his show altogether. This is precisely what government censorship looks like. “We urge you to immediately stop threatening media organizations due to their programming and return to the FCC’s mission of ensuring all Americans have access to affordable, efficient communication services.”
Other senators who signed the letter include Jacky Rosen, Tammy Baldwin, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Brian Schatz, John Hickenlooper and Gary Peters.
The FCC chair has already been fielding calls for his resignation. Carr told Dana Loesch on Thursday that he was not going anywhere after Congressman Frank Pallone made a case.
“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.”
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.
