Sen. Rand Paul is the latest Republican to speak out against a top federal regulator’s comments about comedian Jimmy Kimmel and the media.
In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker on Sunday, the Kentucky Republican was asked about FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s remark that “we can do this the easy way or the hard way” regarding companies taking action against Kimmel.
“Absolutely inappropriate,” Paul said. “Brendan Carr has no business weighing in on this. But people also need to realize that while despicable comments are allowed, you don’t have the right to employment.”
During his late-night show, Kimmel criticized what he called the “MAGA gang” for “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.”
Nexstar Media Group, which owns 32 ABC affiliate stations and is pursuing a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna that requires FCC approval, said it would pre-empt the show “for the foreseeable future.” Sinclair Broadcasting, the nation’s largest ABC affiliate group, also removed the show and demanded Kimmel apologize to Kirk’s family.
Disney-owned ABC said it was pre-empting Kimmel’s show indefinitely, which sparked backlash from people who were upset that the media giant gave in to the pressure.
On Sunday, Paul pointed out that most employers have a code of conduct that can lead to firing if employees break it. But he said the FCC should not be involved.
“This is television, for goodness’ sakes. You have to sell sponsorships. You have to sell commercials. And if you’re losing money, you can be fired,” Paul said. “But the government has no business in it. The FCC was wrong to weigh in. And I will fight any attempt by the government to get involved with speech.”
Paul’s remarks are similar to those of Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who said he disliked what Kimmel said but compared Carr’s threat to something a “mafioso” would say.
On his podcast Friday, Cruz also warned against government interference in free speech and called Carr’s remarks “dangerous as hell.”
“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. “It might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel, but when it’s used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it.”
President Donald Trump — who has said the FCC could review licenses for broadcasters that criticize him — called Carr an American patriot in response to Cruz’s comments, though he disagreed with the senator.
Cruz and Paul aren’t the only conservatives raising concerns about free speech. Political commentator Tucker Carlson also said he hopes Kirk’s murder “won’t be leveraged to bring hate speech laws to this country.”
Other Republicans have supported the FCC or questioned the importance of the First Amendment. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told NBC on Friday that the FCC is right to question broadcast networks about their licenses.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) told Semafor on Thursday that a broadcasting license from the FCC is a privilege, not a right.
“Normally, I think the First Amendment should always be the ultimate right, with almost no limits,” she said. “I don’t feel that way anymore. Something has changed culturally, and I think we need to recognize that.”
