Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is doubling down on his attempt to punish Jimmy Kimmel — and now blames Democrats for the wave of backlash after Disney and ABC pulled the show last week.
"Democrats just keep digging themselves a deeper & deeper hole on Kimmel," Carr wrote on X. "They simply can’t stand that local TV stations—for the first time in years—stood up to a national programmer & chose to exercise their lawful right to preempt programming. We need to keep empowering local TV stations to serve their communities of license."
TV station groups Nexstar Media and Sinclair Broadcasting have said they plan to boycott Kimmel's show after ABC and its parent company Disney announced it will return Tuesday — backtracking on its earlier decision to pull the show after comments made about Charlie Kirk.
Nexstar and Sinclair plan to replace it with news programming for about a quarter of the stations they control, which is about 20% of ABC local affiliates, the New York Times reported.
Carr last week threatened Jimmy Kimmel's suspension on a conservative podcast, saying Disney should "take action," just hours before the network pulled the show and suspended the late-night host "indefinitely" over his remarks about Trump and slain MAGA influencer Kirk.
Disney on Monday announced that it had "thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."
The suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" had been condemned by lawmakers, free speech advocates and notable Hollywood stars. Protests broke out in Los Angeles outside the studio where the show is taped.
The company's stock dropped in the days following as calls grew to boycott ABC/Disney and Hulu amid the ongoing pressures from conservative affiliate owners Sinclair and Nexstar.
Nexstar is trying to close a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, another TV station owner, and needs the FCC's and the Trump administration's approval to secure the deal, The Times reported. The show could ultimately move to another TV station owner.
Former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler has accused Carr of using his leverage to approve corporate mergers to "bludgeon" regulated companies like Nexstar and Sinclair, both of which have corporate mergers awaiting his approval. He said the chairman's justification for getting involved was improper.
"The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the public interest," Wheeler said.