Actor and director Rob Reiner told CNN anchor Brianna Keilar "this may be the last time you ever see me" in response to speaking out against President Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in the aftermath of comedian Jimmy Kimmel's suspension.
"This may be the last time you ever see me because ... there's only a couple of us that are speaking out in this hard way," Reiner said. "And I, we, hope and we know that there will be others. And so I don't think you can destroy a whole industry."
The award-winning director and author of "A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap," said that it's time for people to stand up against censorship and to protect First Amendment rights in the U.S. He also recently appeared on Kimmel's show to promote his film "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues."
"I'm a friend of Jimmy's," he said. "And what happened to him is unconscionable. It just can't happen."
Kimmel was suspended by ABC and its parent company Disney for comments he made about murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The networks were widely criticized as bowing to pressure from Trump.
Reiner added: "What's happening now goes way beyond Jimmy Kimmel."
The stakes are high, he said.
"We're in a war. We're in a war right now for our democracy," Reiner said. "Trump has declared war on this democracy."
"He throws people out of the country without due process," he said. "He takes funds that were appropriated by Congress, refuses to distribute them, in clear contradiction to the Constitution, the separation of powers. He's browbeating businesses and universities and law.
"This is way beyond Jimmy Kimmel. This is a man who's a convicted felon, an adjudicated sex offender and business fraud, and he's decided that our 250 years of American democracy is going to be wiped out — and is doing it within the last eight months."
He said that people are going to organize to fight back because Trump's attacks are now personal.
"Beside the fact that I'm in show business, I'm already a libtard, I'm already a pariah... with the Trump administration."
He described how his family, including his wife — a descendant of Holocaust survivors — and his veteran uncle, fought against Nazis and fascism during WWII.
"There are a lot of people who are going to be standing up in the near future ... and you're going to see a big pushback. There's no question about it. He's declared war on the Constitution, on the First Amendment, and we're not going to take it."
He anticipates that Kimmel could also fight back in a major way and that this moment would not just impact Hollywood but communication overall. He warned that if people don't speak up, it could lead to state-run media and further authoritarian rule.
"If I'm Jimmy Kimmel, I'm suing the Trump administration," Reiner said. "I'm suing them for abandoning my First Amendment rights. We're going to see what recourse he has and where what recourse he has and where this goes."
