Republican senators are evading direct critiques of President Trump's FCC chair, Brendan Carr, who seemed to threaten broadcast companies if they did not drop late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after his Charlie Kirk monologue.
Why it matters: The Republican response stands in stark contrast to the Democrats, who are sounding the alarm over what they see as a clear and craven assault on the First Amendment.
- The reactions create another remarkable split screen in the age of Trump.
- Democrats are calling on Carr to resign. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that Carr "disgraced the office he holds by bullying ABC, the employer of Jimmy Kimmel, and forcing the company to bend the knee."
- GOP senators waffled over any government overreach by Carr. They instead kept the focus on punishment from private companies.
What they're saying: "Well, my preference would always be to let the companies make economic market decisions," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told NBC News' Frank Thorp.
- "I do think it was very unusual for the head of the agency to issue what seemed to be very challenging comments," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters. She also said the network can fire employees, and Kimmel's statements were "out of bounds."
- "I understand that right now it's an employer-employee issue, and that's the way I would approach it," Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said.
Between the lines: Many GOP lawmakers criticized and investigated the Biden administration for pressuring social media companies to censor certain information about COVID-19.
- "I don't want the government to be involved with policing speech," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters. "The FCC should not be involved," he posted on X.
- Paul led probes into the Biden administration's influence on social media companies over COVID.
- Paul would not weigh in specifically on Carr's comments and also emphasized the Kimmel suspension as a decision by a private employer, which he feels was fair game.
The bottom line: Senators stopped short of criticizing Carr's comments, with some saying they had not taken time to look into his statement.
- Many expressed their distaste for Kimmel's comments about the president and Kirk, and some cheered ABC's decision to halt the program.
And Republicans told Semafor's Burgess Everett that they've rethought their approach to the free speech issue.
- "Under normal times, in normal circumstances, I tend to think that the First Amendment should always be sort of the ultimate right. And that there should be almost no checks and balances on it," Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said. "I don't feel that way anymore."
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