Cruz Warns Allies FCC Move Could Backfire

Editorials from Republican-leaning outlets including the Wall Street Journal and the Free Press have objected to the FCC chairman's push to knock Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air. GOP Sen. Ted Cruz has joined the outcry, warning allies they might come to regret their victory, the Washington Post reports. "It might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel," Cruz said Friday on his podcast. "But when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it."

Most congressional Republicans supported FCC Chair Brendan Carr's actions and statements, per the BBC, though Sen. Thom Tillis told reporters that Cruz was "absolutely right." GOP. Sen. Jerry Moran told Politico that "the conservative position is free speech is free speech, and we better be very careful about any lines we cross in diminishing free speech." After playing Carr's comments Friday on his Verdict with Ted Cruz podcast about threatening affiliates' licenses if the stations didn't pressure ABC to pull Kimmel, Cruz called them dangerous. "That's right out of Goodfellas," Cruz said. "That's right out of a mafioso coming into a bar. 'God, nice bar you have here. It'd be a shame if something happened to it.'"