FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr was a proponent of freedom of speech. Take a look at his social media posts. But he has problems with Jimmy Kimmel.
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Do you know how past social media posts can go back and annoy you? FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr does so.
Carr is also facing criticism as he puts pressure on ABC to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Not only from the airwaves, but there is also the reappearance of his own previous online posts that the FCC should not regulate the content of his speeches on television. The liberals on social media are pleased to focus on Kerr’s obvious hypocrisy. Among them was former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who posted on Facebook: “For Maga, it is clear that protecting freedom of speech has always been secondary to wielding the power to punish anyone who doubts this administration.”
Kerr, who has been appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates television, radio and communications, appears to be threatening ABC with the network’s parent Disney company, Kimmel, over a late-night host’s monologue, including the September 10 murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
An episode of commentator Benny Johnson’s YouTube show on September 17th called on Disney and individual ABC affiliates to take action against Kimmel.
“This is a very serious problem for Disney right now. We can do this in an easy or difficult way,” Kerr said. “We need to see some changes here, but the individual license stations getting content is when they step up and say this, and to some degree, it’s the trash can that’s going down the pipe in the future, isn’t something we think will cater to the needs of our community.”
“We need to fire Kimmel,” he added. “I think you can certainly see the path for a stop through this.”
Later that day, ABC announced that Kimmel’s late-night talk show would be “indefinitely ahead of time.”
Kimmel claimed on September 15th that the “Magagang” were “doing everything they could to score political points.” He also criticized Trump for lamenting the death of his allies, comparing them to “the way a four-year-old child grieves goldfish.”
Kerr may have had problems with Kimmel’s comments, but in the past he has publicly defended freedom of speech. USA Today contacted the chairman’s office for comment, but did not hear about it early on Saturday evening.
When Kerr was the FCC commissioner in 2019, he tweeted his opposition to the USA Today opinion column written by then-FCC chairman Jessica Rosenwartle.
However, Kerr opposed the basis for free speech. “Do you not like the government’s censorship speech? Of course it’s not,” said Carr’s post on February 14, 2019. “The FCC does not have a roving mission to police speeches in the name of “public interest.”
Others have found Carr’s statement and have provided their own commentary over the last few days. “This is old,” one poster pointed out.
“How do you get a tweet? You guys are so bad,” another person posted.
Before Disney took the Kimmel show ahead, media company Nexstar, which has 32 ABC stations, said it would pull out the program.
Carr’s FCC is considering acquiring fellow Nexstar broadcaster Tegna. Approval requires lifting station ownership restrictions that prohibit broadcasters from reaching more than 39% of national audiences. The FCC will also consider acquiring Disney-owned ESPN’s NFL network.
It’s not just liberals and free speech advocates who are concerned about the move against Kimmel. Some conservatives have also expressed concern that the Trump administration will stifle freedom of speech in order to silence Kirk’s critics.
“It’s a quick mafia coming in the bar. “A lovely bar here. It’s a shame if something happens,” the Republican senator from Texas said on his own podcast on September 19th.
What did FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr say about freedom of speech?
Kerr frequently posts in favor of free speech. An hour after being appointed FCC chair by Trump in 2024, Carr said in X that he “must dismantle the censored cartel and restore the rights of everyday Americans to free speech.”
Carr supports freedom of speech in his additional X post. “Free speech is a counterweight. It’s a check on government control. That’s why censorship is an authoritarian dream,” he posted on December 30, 2023.
Previously, in 2021, Carr posted that messaging platform Discord’s ban on servers related to GameStop stock prices amounted to censorship. “Less speech means more power to established gatekeepers,” his post read.
Critics like Colbert call Carr’s hypocrisy
On the September 18 episode of “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the host referenced some of Carr’s posts, saying that Carr “represents a serious threat to the freedom and ability of those in power to be held accountable, particularly in the promotion of those targeted or threatened by that message.”
Such comments appeared to be against the actions taken against Kimmel, Colbert suggested.
“Yeah, don’t tell Brendan Kerr that Brendan Kerr said.
Contributors: Pamela Avila, Michael Collins, Joey Garrison, Anna Kaufman, Kelly Lawler, Brendan Moreau, Katyrun Palmer, Anthony Robredo
Mike Snyder is a national trending news reporter for USA Today. You can follow him in the thread, send BlueSky, X with X and send him an email Bliss & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider &msnider@usatoday.com
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