(Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr is set to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee after weeks of bipartisan outrage over his role in the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show.
Carr came under fire in September after suggesting that Disney and its subsidiary ABC could face regulatory consequences over Kimmel’s on-air comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The remarks preceded Kimmel’s suspension by ABC, which lasted nearly a week before his show was reinstated and followed a pile on by affiliate conglomerates.
Carr will testify before the panel led by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who emerged as a staunch conservative critic of Carr’s handling of the controversy. A date for the hearing has not yet been announced, according to NBC News, but Cruz’s committee has jurisdiction over the FCC and is now preparing for what is likely to be a combative session.
Cruz himself was one of the earliest Republicans to condemn Carr.
“I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying,” Cruz said on his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
He later likened Carr’s threats to moves seen in Goodfellas, calling them “right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it.’”
Democrats, meanwhile, have pressed for full oversight. Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington demanded an inquiry last month, calling Carr’s actions “an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.”
But Carr has found a powerful defender in President Donald Trump, who has urged the FCC to go further by revoking broadcast licences for what he deems hostile coverage.
The post Ted Cruz to Haul FCC Chair Before Senate Panel Over Jimmy Kimmel Suspension first appeared on Mediaite.
