On Thursday, President Trump provided full support to FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr, warning that broadcasters criticizing him could lose their licenses.
Trump was asked about “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, which was suspended indefinitely on Wednesday. He argued that the late-night show was uniformly critical to him, saying, “They had no conservatives for years.”
“You have a network, you have an evening show and all they do is hit the cards,” he said. “They’re approved. They’re not allowed to do that. They’re the Democrats’ arm.”
Speaking to Air Force 1 reporters, the president complained that 97% of broadcast news reports were “opposed to me.”
“They give me only bad news,” he said. “They have licenses. I think they should probably take away their licenses. It’s up to Brendan Kerr. I think Brendan Kerr is outstanding. He’s a patriot. He loves our country and he’s a tough guy.
On Wednesday, Kerr threatened to take action against his local affiliate in response to Kimmel’s remarks about Charlie Kirk’s murderer. Kimmel said on Monday’s ABC show that “Magagang” is “trying to characterize this child who killed Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them.”
The comments were featured in conservative media and sparked serious controversy on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
Within hours of Carr’s remarks, Nexstar and Sinclair said they would not air Kimmel’s show, and ABC announced that it would draw the show until further notice.
Trump celebrated in July when Stephen Colbert’s CBS show was cancelled. At the time, he said, “I heard Jimmy Kimmel is next.”
On the plane, Trump was asked who should replace Kimmel.
“Everyone could replace him. He had no talent,” he said. “It’s more important than talent because a lot of people don’t have talent and can’t get a reputation, but he didn’t have a reputation. I think his review is worse than Colbert. They removed Colbert.
Trump often threatened to take a broadcasting station license during his 2024 campaign.
“CBS has licensed and the license is based on integrity,” he said at a stop at a campaign held in Aurora, Colorado last October. “I think they have to take away their license.”
