The White House has claimed the FCC did not threaten late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for intending to broadcast his interview with Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico.
“FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations based on simple traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings it would seem they don’t like,” Kimmel said on Wednesday as reported by Breitbart News.
“And so out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas who would have to deal with this nonsense, my interview tomorrow with James Talarico will not air on television,” Kimmel continued. “It will be posted on YouTube instead. It will not be on TV. 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 where you will see it in its entirety.”
David Ingle, assistant White House press secretary, said in a statement Jimmy Kimmel was “play-acting” to create a “false narrative.”
“Jimmy Kimmel is play-acting — as he often does — to create a false narrative about this administration’s policies. Chairman Carr has not threatened him regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate,” Ingle said. “Any media outlet blindly amplifying Kimmel’s egocentric delusion should insist on proof. Of which they will find none.”
As noted by TheWrap, the FCC moved to ABC’s First Amendment lawsuit last week “regarding its early station license reviews, calling the network’s retaliation claims ‘meritless.’ A year after Kimmel’s show was temporarily suspended for a week, the federal agency has also questioned the equal-time rule exemption status for The View.”
Kimmel’s interview with Talarico will air on YouTube. The Texas Democrat also sounded off Thursday.
“We found out about this very recently, and I guess we’ll see what happens tonight. But government censorship should be a concern to all of us, regardless of our political party,” he told MS NOW on Thursday morning.
“It’s the most dangerous form of cancel culture: people at the top, powerful politicians, powerful media executives, censoring what we watch, what we read [and] what we say,” Talarico added. “And that, again, should be a concern to everyone who believes in the First Amendment and believes in the freedom of speech.”