The ‘Campaign of Censorship and Control’
Will the Federal Communications Commission ever actually punish Disney or CBS for FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s belief that those networks are in violation of the agency’s “equal time” rule?
We may never know the answer to that question, and that appears to be the point.
Both networks have, in their own way, bowed to pressure from the Trump administration in muzzling themselves for the sake of avoiding something worse — or nothing! — from the sycophant running the FCC for Trump. And it’s not really either network’s fault.
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel announced on Wednesday evening that his show chose to publish an interview that Kimmel conducted with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico — who faces radioactive Republican candidate Ken Paxton in one of the most closely-watched Senate races of the 2026 midterms — on YouTube instead of attempting to air the discussion on his show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The show is broadcast by Disney, which owns ABC, and has been engaged in an ongoing battle with the FCC as Carr attempts to use his post as head of the commission to bully the media into only broadcasting things President Trump likes.
The lawyers for the CBS-run show, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” opted to do the same thing earlier this year after Carr announced that the FCC was investigating ABC’s daytime talkshow “The View” for airing an interview with the same Senate candidate. I get into this more in a piece here, but the rule that Carr is using to justify his threats and investigations was changed decades ago to extend exemptions to FCC’s “equal time” policy to talkshows, a bucket that The View, Colbert and Kimmel’s shows all fall under.
During his show on Wednesday evening, Kimmel explained his show’s decision, saying Trump and Carr had pressured ABC over “simple, traditional editorial decisions: guest bookings it would seem they don’t like.”
“Now that he’s president, his FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations,” Kimmel continued. “So if you want to learn about a candidate for the Senate tomorrow, you will have to go to the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ YouTube channel.”
You cannot blame the broadcaster, and I wouldn’t even call the move capitulation. Instead, it’s the manifestation of what Carr has sought to do with his post as FCC chair since Trump appointed him. It represents an effective chilling of press freedoms during a time when the federal government is using its might to shut down both dissent and stifle journalism that it does not like.
The sole Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission said as much in a statement on Thursday.
“Jimmy Kimmel’s decision to keep his interview with a Senate candidate off the air shows just how far this Administration’s campaign of censorship and control has gone,” FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, who was appointed to the commission by President Biden, said.
“There is no way to know how many other editorial decisions across the country have quietly been shaped by this same pressure,” Gomez continued. “No host, local affiliate, or network should have to weigh federal retaliation before booking a guest for a newsworthy interview. Any attempt to pressure broadcasters into self-censorship undermines both press freedom and the public’s right to hear from candidates in their communities seeking public office.”
GOPer Jumps to Write Trump Bribe Into Law
While reports surface suggesting that several Republican members of Congress were dismayed and caught off guard by President Trump’s speech last night — during which he bribed Americans into voting for Republicans in the midterms with the promise of $5,000 checks (read more from Hunter Walker last night here) — some are fine with Trump’s big bribe plan. That includes Vice President JD Vance, who went on Fox News today to try to sane-wash the suggestion that Trump could pay people for voting Republican. Essentially, he said there would be income bracket barriers to who can receive checks and the whole $1 trillion endeavor could be magically funded by tariff refunds 🤔
Then there’s Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) from Ohio, vowing to get to work codifying Trump’s bribery scheme into federal law before the new Congress is sworn in.
Dem Challenger Tests Political Saliency of Data Centers
Politico has a new report out today that looks at how the Democrat challenging Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is making the vulnerable Republican’s middle-ground approach to data center construction in Pennsylvania the focal point of his campaign. Fitzpatrick has been rather limp on the lightning-rod, bipartisan issue, as have most Republicans. He’s backed legislation that seeks to address rising electricity costs tied to data center development, and has said things like America “can innovate without compromising our communities.”
His Democratic challenger, on the other hand, has espoused beliefs more in line with most American voters who want the whole endeavor shut down. Per Politico:
Democrat Bob Harvie’s first general-election ad in his campaign against Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is calling for a data center moratorium, the latest sign artificial intelligence is emerging as a key midterm campaign issue.
“I’m Bob Harvie, I approve this message because I don’t want more data centers, I want a moratorium,” the Bucks County commissioner says in the 30-second ad. “Big Tech owns enough, they shouldn’t own our congressman, too.”
The race is one to watch because Fitzpatrick is viewed as a particularly vulnerable member of the House Republican conference. He’s a five-term congressman, but he’s one of three House Republicans who won a seat in a district that Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential election.
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Read This From TPM Today
David Kurtz writes on the Justice Department making good on its threat to prosecute election officials nationwide who refuse to comply with the DOJ’s demand for access to states’ voter rolls, a demand that has been repeatedly shut down by federal judges across the country:
What makes the escalation especially remarkable is that they come after the Justice Department has repeatedly struck out in civil lawsuits trying to force states to cough up voter information. Having lost in court while trying to clear the lower bar of a civil lawsuit, the Trump DOJ is now going to meet the even higher standard of a criminal prosecution?
More here: Election Officials Nationwide Under Threat of Prosecution From Trump DOJ
Yesterday’s Top Story
Britain’s Sanctions on the West Bank Settlements Are the Right Step Forward
What I’m Reading
What happened the last times Trump pitched direct payments to Americans
GOP secretaries of state ask Supreme Court to block Trump mail-in ballot rule
After contempt hearing, Missouri’s top election official concedes redistricting fight
More on that ^ from Kate Riga:
God I want Ann Wagner out of MO-2. I thought Todd Aiken was a loser for all of his 6 terms, but Wanger is running for her 8th term.
The generic ballot is around D+7 so it is likely that a whole bunch of GOP gerrymandered districts are going to flip blue. Especially if an enthusiasm gap at the polls magnifies that effect.
So how many of us will subscribe to Jimmy’s show YT channel?? I just did!!
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Let me make it easy for you.