FCC Chairman Seems to Say That in Threatening ABC Affiliates Over Jimmy Kimmel, He Was Doing His Job to Uphold the ‘Public Interest’

Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the FCC, has been accused of improperly exerting pressure on ABC and local broadcasters to cancel Jimmy Kimmel over the late-night host’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s murder — and that Carr’s threats were tantamount to a First Amendment violation.

On Wednesday, Carr, amid pointed questioning from lawmakers at a Senate hearing, suggested that he was simply holding broadcasters to a legally required “public interest standard” when he was asked about his Sept. 17 remarks on a conservative podcast in which he threatened ABC and its affiliates if they did not “take action” on Kimmel.