FCC chair blasts California senator over Jimmy Kimmel, Sinclair dispute

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr blasted Democratic California state Sen. Scott Wiener on Tuesday for calling to break up Sinclair Broadcast Group because it’s keeping late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off its ABC stations.

Carr pointed to Wiener as an example of Democratic lawmakers accusing opponents of stifling free speech while engaging in it themselves. 

“And there it is. On Kimmel, the Democrats are engaged in nothing more than Projection and Distortion,” the Trump appointee posted on X in response to Wiener’s post.

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The progressive state lawmaker’s post attacked Sinclair in response to news that the media conglomerate would continue to refuse to broadcast “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” throughout the country for his comments falsely suggesting that Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin is a MAGA supporter.

Sinclair — which operates dozens of ABC affiliates — made the announcement after Disney reinstated Kimmel’s show this Tuesday after suspending it for several days following his Kirk comments. 

“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” the company posted on X on Monday. 

Nexstar Media Group, which owns 32 ABC affiliate stations, also announced on Tuesday that it will continue preempting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” 

Kimmel’s suspension sparked outrage among liberals, who called it government censorship. Many pointed to the FCC chair’s podcast interview where he suggested the commission could take action if Disney didn’t. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was among the voices on the right who were critical of the FCC, comparing it to a mob shakedown.

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When Sinclair refused to return Kimmel to its airwaves, Wiener appeared to threaten the company with government action. 

“Can’t wait to break Sinclair up. Corporate media consolidation doesn’t jibe with democracy. And although Sinclair isn’t a fan of democracy, most people are,” he posted on X.

In a post shared only hours earlier, Wiener accused President Donald Trump “and his cronies” of continuing to “pressure the media to bend to their will.”

Carr responded to Wiener’s post Tuesday, saying it was proof liberals are projecting their willingness to use government power on their opponents. He added Democrats distort the issue by blaming Trump rather than Disney for Kimmel’s suspension. 

“Projection because Democrats are the ones that spent years illegally weaponizing government to silence dissent. And it is Democrats that will do it all again — as they are openly telling you today,” he wrote.

“Distortion because Democrats want to blame anything other than Disney and their local TV stations for Kimmel’s suspension. Those businesses decided that, in their view, a suspension made sense. The reporting on this is clear.”

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Carr praised Sinclair for standing up to Disney over its decision.

“Notably, this is the first time recently that any local TV stations have pushed back on a national programmer like Disney,” he posted. “And that is a good thing because we want want empowered local TV stations.  After all, local TV stations — not the national programmers — have public interest obligations, and they should be making decisions that in their view meets the needs of their local communities.”

When asked for comment on Carr’s post, Wiener’s reps pointed to Wiener’s reply to Carr on X.

“Trump’s unqualified hack FCC chairman: ‘Democrats are the ones silencing free speech & to stop them we need to let mega corporations silence criticism of the right.’ Do you people hear yourselves?? BREAK UP SINCLAIR,” he stated.

Sinclair did not reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.