Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr has defended the ABC affiliates that have chosen not to air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following the reinstatement of the comedian’s program by Disney and added that Democrats are engaging in “projection and distortion” over the matter.
Disney-owned ABC suspended Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely last week following comments he made about the killing of Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk on Oct. 10 at Utah Valley University.
Sinclair Broadcasting announced that its ABC-affiliated stations would preempt Kimmel’s show “for the foreseeable future.”
Sinclair is currently seeking FCC approval for its proposed $6.2 billion merger with Tegna. Of the roughly 225 ABC affiliate stations nationwide, Tegna controls around 5%.
“And there it is. On Kimmel, the Democrats are engaged in nothing more than Projection and Distortion. 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,” Carr posted on X Tuesday.
Carr was responding to a post by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-Calif. who remarked, “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.”
The FCC chairman said Democrats are engaging in distortion because they’re looking “to blame anything other than Disney and their local TV stations for Kimmel’s suspension,” adding that the companies made an appropriate business decision.
“Notably, this is the first time recently that any local TV stations have pushed back on a national programmer like Disney. And that is a good thing because we 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,” Carr continued.
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