FCC Chair Sent Journalist a GIF After Jimmy Kimmel Was Yanked Off Air 

Where does Carr fit into all this? Nexstar—which operates 32 ABC stations around the country—kicked Kimmel off its stations before ABC officially announced it’d be pulling the show. In a statement, the president of broadcasting said Kimmel’s comments were “offensive and insensitive” and do not reflect the “values of the local communities in which we are located.” The company is currently seeking FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger.

Also before ABC’s announcement, Carr did an interview with the far-right podcaster Benny Johnson. “Frankly, when you see stuff like this—I mean, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said of the monologue. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel.” He added that Kimmel’s joke was “truly sick” and that it was part of a “concerted effort to lie to the American people” about Kirk’s killer. Carr also wrote the FCC chapter of the Project 2025 playbook, in which he begins with, “The FCC should promote freedom of speech…” Republicans love their hypocrisy more than Trump loves two Big Macs.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest ABC affiliate in the country, took it one step further and demanded that Kimmel both apologize and donate money before they’d consider airing the show again. “Sinclair also calls upon Mr Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family,” their statement reads. “Furthermore, we ask Mr Kimmel to make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.”

“Mr Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” Sinclair’s Vice Chairman Jason Smith further said in a separate statement. “We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities.” Guess he missed Fox & Friends’ Brian Kilmeade saying last week that the U.S. should “just kill” homeless people. (Kilmeade has since apologized.)

“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human,” Kimmel wrote on Instagram the day after Kirk’s shooting, adding that he was sending love to Kirk’s family and every family affected by gun violence. In his monologue that night, he also called Kirk’s murder “senseless.”

If you’re feeling déjà vu, that’s because Stephen Colbert found himself in a similar situation a few months ago. On July 17, CBS announced that it’d be canceling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, three days after he criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount, for kowtowing to Trump and settling his $16 million lawsuit against 60 Minutes. At the time, Paramount was also seeking FCC approval for an $8.4 billion merger—which the FCC officially approved on July 24.

On Thursday, House Democrats said Carr bullied ABC and called for resignation; Trump said Kimmel was fired “because he had bad ratings more than anything else and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk” (Kimmel wasn’t fired and the joke wasn’t about Kirk) but dismissed any free speech concerns; House Speaker Mike Johnson—who monitors porn intake with his son—feigned ignoreance; Rolling Stone reported that senior executives at ABC and Disney “were pissing themselves all day” Wednesday; and ABC’s The View completely ignored the story.

“Welcome to Consequence Culture,” White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich tweeted Wednesday night. “Normal, common sense Americans are no longer taking the bullshit and companies like ABC are finally willing to do the right and reasonable thing.” Ah, so it’s “consequence culture” when the left makes a joke, but it’s “cancel culture” and “you can’t say anything anymore” and “legalize comedy!” when the right says something racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, or transphobic. Got it!