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  "description": "Democrats and Republicans want answers over FCC threats to TV licenses over Kimmel’s suspension.",
  "path": "/carr-agrees-to-testify-before-senate-panel-on-his-apparent-threats-to-kimmel-show/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-10-03T21:13:35.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_on Sept. 17_",
    "_an interview_",
    "_evidence disclosed_",
    "_to criticize_",
    "_on his podcast_",
    "_on Sept. 19_",
    "_on Sept. 18_",
    "_his own call_",
    "_On Sept. 19_",
    "_in March_"
  ],
  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2025 — Federal Communications Commission Chairman **Brendan Carr** has agreed to testify before a Senate panel following weeks of bipartisan criticism over his threats against ABC’s _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ , according to published reports.\n\nCarr, a Republican appointee of President Trump, issued a vocal warning to ABC and its parent The Walt Disney Company _on Sept. 17_, saying the network could “do this the easy way or the hard way,” – in other words – rein in Kimmel’s commentary or face additional scrutiny from the FCC. Later that day, two of ABC’s largest affiliates, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Inc., announced they would preempt the show. Disney then moved to suspend Kimmel that night but brought him back after a four-show suspension.\n\nCarr spoke out during _an interview_ with conservative podcaster **Benny Johnson** after Kimmel on his Sept. 15 broadcast insinuated – some said lied – that **Charlie Kirk’s** assassin was a MAGA Trump supporter when _evidence disclosed_by Utah Gov. **Spencer Cox** , R, prior to Kimmel’s comments pointed in the opposite direction.\n\nKimmel angered the right by saying, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA [Make America Great Again] 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.\"\n\nCarr is expected to face sharp questioning from both sides of the aisle. Senate Commerce Committee Chair**Ted Cruz** , R-Texas, one of the most prominent Trump allies _to criticize_ Carr’s actions, will likely lead the hearing.\n\n“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, speaking _on his podcast_ on Sept. 19.\n\nCruz said Carr’s conduct was “dangerous as hell” and compared his comments to the threats of a mob boss.\n\nOther Republicans have chimed in to support Cruz since. They included: Sens. **Rand Paul** , Ky., **Todd Young** , Ind., **Dave McCormick** , Pa., **Lisa Murkowski** , Alaska, **Jerry Moran** , Kan., and Rep. **Brett Guthrie** , Ky.\n\nOn the Democratic side, Sen. **Maria Cantwell** , Wash., the Commerce committee’s ranking member, led her party _on Sept. 19_ in calling for Carr to appear before the panel.\n\n“Carr threatened to use the regulatory power of the FCC against ABC, its parent company Disney, and its network affiliates if ABC did not fire comedian **Jimmy Kimmel** for his comments about the assassination of**Charlie Kirk** ,” the senators wrote. “As the Committee with jurisdiction over the FCC, it is our constitutional duty to conduct oversight over this matter and demand Chairman Carr answer for this unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.”\n\nIn a letter to Cruz, Cantwell said Carr had improperly sought to influence licensing decisions at the president’s direction.\n\nPresident **Donald Trump** put his full support behind Carr. “I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He’s a patriot. He loves our country, and he’s a tough guy,” Trump told reporters on **Air Force One** _on Sept. 18_.\n\nAs part of his commentary, Carr said his point was partly to encourage TV station owners like Nexstar and Sinclair to push back against national networks if they think Kimmel’s comments, which many Kirk supporters found deeply offensive, do not serve the interests of their communities.\n\n“Frankly, I think that it's really sort of past time that a lot of these licensed broadcasters themselves push back on **Comcast** and Disney and say, ‘Listen, we are going to preempt. We're not going to run Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out because we licensed broadcasters are running the possibility of fines or license revocation from the FCC if we continue to run content that ends up being a pattern of news distortion,’” Carr said.\n\nSen. **Edward Markey** , D-Mass., followed with _his own call_ this week for Cruz to bring Carr before the Commerce committee.\n\nIn his statement, Markey detailed that politically motivated actions at the FCC had been taking place since February, when he, Sens. **Ben Ray Luján** , D-N.M., and **Gary Peters** , D-Mich., first wrote to Carr and then-Commissioner **Nathan Simington** warning against partisan interference in broadcast licensing.\n\nHouse Democrats have also pressed for accountability. _On Sept. 19_, Democratic leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee urged the FCC’s inspector general to investigate Carr in connection with the Kimmel suspension. The move built on a broader inquiry that House Democrats opened _in March_ into Carr’s repeated attacks on media outlets.\n\n“Under Carr’s leadership, the FCC has harassed CBS for routine editing practices, reinstated lawfully denied complaints against ABC and NBC, launched a bogus investigation into KCBS-AM in San Jose simply for reporting publicly available information, and directed the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to launch investigations into NPR and PBS based on false allegations,” House E&C Democrats wrote.\n\nThe date of the hearing has not been set but was expected after November, according to a committee spokesperson.",
  "title": "Carr Agrees to Testify Before Senate Panel on His Apparent Threats to Kimmel Show",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T05:45:02.915Z"
}