His FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, told ABC and its stations to take action against Jimmy Kimmel over the host’s remarks, or face “additional work for the FCC ahead.” Within hours, station groups with business pending before the agency pulled the show and Disney suspended Kimmel, who returned only after a public backlash. Carr uses the same leverage elsewhere: he revived a “news distortion” complaint against CBS while its parent needed his approval for an $8 billion merger, which cleared after the network settled Trump’s lawsuit for $16 million. Republicans said so in their own words. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Carr ally who chairs the Commerce Committee, called the Kimmel threat “right out of Goodfellas” and an unconstitutional coercion, and Sen. Rand Paul called it “absolutely inappropriate.” Former FCC chairs who served under Reagan even petitioned to repeal the doctrine Carr was using, calling it weaponized. Trump backed Carr over Cruz.
SourcesCruz (R) on the Kimmel threat (Texas Tribune) · The CBS merger and the news-distortion doctrine (Reuters) · Reagan’s own FCC chairs call it weaponized (Deadline)
Named hereBrendan Carr · Ted Cruz
