Trump’s FCC Chair Brendan Carr to testify to Senate panel after Jimmy Kimmel suspension backlash

Brendan Carr, the pro-Trump chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will reportedly testify before a Senate Commerce Committee panel after the bipartisan backlash regarding his role in Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from television.  

The panel, which has jurisdiction over the FCC, will be chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Cruz was one of the first congressional Republicans to criticise Carr’s actions. 

“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 last month on his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz. 

Semafor first reported on Carr’s agreeing to testify in November. A committee spokesperson later confirmed the reporting to NBC News.

On 17 September, ABC announced that it would “indefinitely” suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s show over comments the late-night talk show host made two days previous about the death of far-right Trump supporter Charlie Kirk.  

“We had 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 with everything they can to score political points from it,” said Kimmel.  

The suspension announcement happened mere hours after Carr had appeared on the podcast of Benny Johnson, saying: “Frankly, when you see stuff like this, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” 

He appeared to pressure network affiliates to stop airing the show and his comments were described by Cruz as “dangerous as hell” and “mafioso”. 

“He says, ‘We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way,’” Cruz said of Carr’s comments. “That’s right out of Goodfellas. That’s 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.’” 

Carr has denied that he threatened broadcasters. 

Nexstar and Sinclair, two major carriers of ABC, announced plans to pull Kimmel’s show.  

The move was met with protests, condemnation on both sides of the political aisle, and worries that the Trump administration was threatening First Amendment rights. 

Meanwhile, Trump celebrated the suspension of Kimmel’s show, calling it “great news for America.” He repeatedly praised Carr for his actions, telling reporters last month that Carr should revoke broadcasters’ licenses for unfavourable coverage. 

Ultimately, ABC brought back Kimmel a week later, with Nexstar and Sinclair eventually following suit. Trump threatened to “test ABC” after the broadcaster reinstated the comedian. 

The network’s decision reportedly followed a wave of cancellations of streaming service Disney+. According to Marisa Kabas, founder of the newsletter The Handbasket, more than 1.7million subscribers cancelled their subscription to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN during the period Kimmel was off air.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned on 23 September and hit a 10-year ratings high. That same day, Disney announced the cost of a Disney+ and Hulu package would increase.

Talk about timing...

No exact date has yet been revealed regarding Carr's Senate hearing.