The president of the FCC, Brendan Carr, continues to insist that his comments from Jimmy Kimmel were not a threat, although Ted Cruz and other Gopers took it as one

The president of the FCC, Brendan Carr, continued to insist that his recent comments about Jimmy Kimmel were not a threat, despite the fact that the Democrats and some Republicans saw them widely.

In his first meeting of the FCC commission since Kimmel’s night show was withdrawn, and then reinstated, by ABC, Carr said that his comments were being characterized by the Democrats and the media.

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“It was not done or suggested a threat that if Jimmy Kimmel was not fired, someone was going to lose his license,” Carr told journalists on Tuesday. “I have seen that there are many Democrats who are writing letters saying that is what happened, and he simply did not.”

In his night show earlier this month, Kimmel, in his monologue, said: “We had some new minimums during the weekend with the Maga gang desperately trying to characterize this child who murdered Charlie Kirk as something more than one of them and with everything they can to obtain political points of him.”

Two days later, Carr, appearing in Benny Johnson’s podcast, called Kimmel’s comment “some of the most sick behaviors.”

“Frankly, when you see things like this, I mean, we can do this in the easy way or in the difficult way. These companies can find ways to change the behavior, take measures, frankly, in Kimmel, or there will be an additional job for the FCC ahead.”

Carr said that his comments “easy, or in the difficult way” referred to news distortion complaints and that “there is an easy way to treat: television stations and national programmers can solve it … in private. Or there is another QAY, which is people can present a distortion of news in the FCC, and that is what happened, in what case we have to have an FCC process in that.” “.” “.” “.” “.” “.” “

But in other comments in Benny Johnson’s interview, Carr presented the possibility that Kimmel was fired and the possible revocation of seasonal licenses.

He said: “Look, there are called to Kimmel be fired. You could certainly see a path forward for the suspension about this. Again, the FCC will have remedies that we can see. Ultimately, we could be called to be a judge of that.”

He also said that “it is time for many of these licensed stations to retire to Comcast and Disney and say:” Listen, we will avoid, we are no longer going to execute Kimmel, so we straighten this because we, the license speakers are running with the possibility of fine or the revocation of the FCC if we continue to run the content that ends up being a pattern of distortion of news. ” “.” “.” “.” “.” “.” “

Hours after the Podcast interview, Nexstar, the largest stations group, announced that it was doing the Kimmel program in the predictable future. Shortly after, ABC announced that I was dropping the program indefinitely. Another group of stations, Sinclair, also announced that it would not broadcast the Kimmel show.

But after a violent reaction, ABC, owned by Disney, reversed the course and reinstated Kimmel the following week. Several days later, Sinclair and Nexstar said they would restore the program to their stations, while they claimed that the decision to extract the show was not due to government pressure.

However, Carr’s comments were seen as a threat to the figures of the Republican party, including Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). Cruz compared Carr’s comment with a mafia leader, warning that it was “dangerous” because Democrats can display similar tactics when they return to power.

When asked if Cruz was also taking his comments out of context, Car said: “I have no comment about it. Obviously, you are free to ask them about their views. What I have been clear is that if you look at the complete context, not only what I said, but what the companies themselves have said about their decision. It was a commercial decision.”

Nexstar is looking for the approval of the FCC of its fusion with Tegna, and has also been one of the main corporate defenders who urge the agency to raise a limit of ownership of the national media. Sinclair also wants the FCC to relax that rule.

The FCC meeting drew on a dozen protesters, several of whom interrupted the procedures shouting “Fire Carr the Censorship Czar!” They were escorted by security. The group members also wore t -shirts with the FCC logo, but the words “Federal Censorship Commission”. Outside, a truck sponsored by the committee to protect journalists and reporters without borders with the message: “The content surveillance of the FCC is the abuse of power.”

However, Carr said he would continue to analyze individual shows, including ABC. The viewwhose co-elans have sometimes been scathing in their criticisms of Donald Trump.

Carr has raised the possibility of reviewing whether the program still fell under the exemption of news of good faith of the Equal Opportunities rule of the FCC. That requires that he show that political candidates provide rivals at the same time on request. Interview programs have traditionally fallen under the same exemption given to news and documentary programming.

“We should be refreshing and revitalizing our approach in all areas,” said Carr. “Therefore, a time can come when it is appropriate for the FCC to take a look at the exemption of news of good faith, perhaps the tarde of any guide that has been out there, for any program to the right, to the left, to the center. I do not care.”

Anna Gómez, the only Democrat in the commission, said that what Carr has been doing is making threats about the content, although he lacks authority to do so.

“The threats are the point,” he said. “This administration wants capitulation before reaching the courts, because they want companies to alter their behavior now, and do not want to take risks to go to court.”

He pointed out that among the complaints that the FCC has not yet acted is presented by a conservative group about the way in which 60 minutes He edited an interview with Kamala Harris. The complaint alleged a violation of the FCC news distortion policy. But companies can only be responsible only if it can be demonstrated “that they have deliberately distorted a objective news report.” That is a high level, Gomez said.

CBS has questioned the complaint, but also resolved Trump’s demand on the 60 minutes Interview for $ 16 million. Trump’s demand was seen as an obstacle to overcome while Skydance sought government approval to merge with CBS’s father, Paramount Global.

Companies, Gomez said: “They are frayed from our first amendment and our democracy every time they capitulate, but I understand. They are companies. They have obligations with their shareholders. Therefore, it is also our obligation not to threaten and not have these complaints hanging on the head of people and not continue threatening people with the accounts of distortion of the news.”

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