President Trump on Thursday said the US government might take broadcast licenses away from news networks that are mostly “against” him.
It came just a day after the president cheered ABC’s decision to pull late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel – who has a long history of anti-Trump remarks – off the air “indefinitely” after he insinuated that Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer was linked to Trump’s “MAGA” movement.
“I have read someplace that the networks were 97% against me again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily, all 7 swing states,” Trump told reporters on Thursday, referring to his 2024 presidential win.
“They’re 97% against, they give me only bad press. They’re getting a license,” he continued.
“I would think maybe their license should be taken away,” Trump added.
He said that ultimately the decision “will be up to Brendan Carr,” the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission – who he called a “patriot.”
“He loves our country, and he’s a tough guy. So we’ll have to see,” Trump said.
Just a few hours before ABC announced Kimmel’s suspension on Wednesday, Carr had suggested that there was a “strong case” for the FCC to take action against ABC and its parent company, Disney – calling Kimmel’s comments “truly sick.”
During his show’s opening monologue on Monday, Kimmel had said: “The MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Carr argued on Thursday that networks with broadcast licenses – like ABC, NBC and CBS – have a special obligation to serve the public interest, and Kimmel failed to do so by “appearing to directly mislead the American public.”
He denied that his calls for ABC to take action against Kimmel were linked to the late-night host’s anti-Trump politics.
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump celebrated the suspension of Kimmel’s “ratings challenged” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and took another jab at Stephen Colbert after CBS in July announced plans to cancel his late-night show after 10 years on the air.
