There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding Jimmy Kimmel's suspension, which occurred after he made some misleading comments about Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin.
The FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr, only added fuel to that fire with some comments that were deemed to have been inflammatory, even by some on the right.
Now, at least two key GOP senators who have backed Donald Trump in the past are speaking out against Carr, which could create rather significant friction between the president and these lawmakers.
Kimmel’s comments pushed back on conservatives who exposed the leftist ideology of the alleged assassin, claiming that the shooter was instead part of the MAGA movement, which was simply not true. Kimmel stated, "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.”
Forget the insensitivity of the comments at the time, but late-night TV is considered by some to be “news” style programming, and purposely putting out misinformation can get networks in big trouble, so Kimmel was told to apologize, but he refused, then he was suspended.
We need to be very clear that the FCC played no part in this decision, which evolved due to affiliate and network disapproval of the comments and a desire to hold Kimmel accountable for his actions.
Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports put it best, stating, "When a person says something that a ton of people find offensive, rude, dumb in real time and then that person is punished for it, that's not cancel culture. That is consequences for your actions.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called Carr out for his comments, which seemed to suggest that the FCC would start to go after other shows, such as The View, if it its hosts did not stop pushing propaganda.
Carr stated that the FCC was looking to reclassify shows like The View into the same category as late-night TV shows to hold them to the same standard. His comments were interpreted as an effort to silence Trump’s critics. He stated, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Cruz did not feel the same way, stating, "What he is saying is Jimmy Kimmel was lying. That's true, he was lying, and lying to the American people is not in the public interest. He threatens explicitly -- we're going to cancel ABC News' license. We're going to take him off the air, so ABC cannot broadcast anymore. … He threatens it."
He later added, "Jimmy Kimmel has mocked me so many times. The corporate media -- they are dishonest. They are liars. I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired. But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying 'we don't like what you, the media, have said, we're going to ban you from the airwaves' … that will end up bad for conservatives."
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) also addressed the controversy, stating, "People have to also realize that despicable comments, you have the right to say that, but you don’t have the right to employment. Virtually everybody employed probably including yourself, has a code of conduct. In your contract, you have to adhere to it. NFL players have it, baseball players have it.”
He continued, “If you don’t adhere to that conduct, if you say things that are reprehensible or glorify someone’s death, yeah, you can be fired. The FCC should have nothing to do with it… The government has no business in it. The FCC was wrong, and I will fight any attempt by the government to get involved in speech.”
I understand both of their points, especially those of Cruz, because we know that if you give Democrats an opening, they are going to jump right through it to try to crush conservatives. Having said that, if the FCC merely sets the standard that news-oriented shows have to accurately portray news stories and not disseminate purposeful misinformation, is that really wrong?
Listen, we all make mistakes, but the idea is to correct those mistakes immediately and get the story right, even if you have to eat a little crow in the process. Kimmel was given an opportunity to correct his take, and he reportedly blatantly refused, so the network held him accountable. That surely is not an assault against free speech, which is how it is being portrayed. But again, while I may not agree with Cruz or Paul on this, I fully understand and appreciate their arguments, especially Cruz's, on how Democrats will seek to exploit the situation. Having said that, if news outlets and major networks are telling the truth, they would have nothing to worry about.
