Republican Senator Ted Cruz de Texas abruptly criticized the president of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, for his comments related to the presenter of the night Jimmy Kimmel shortly before ABC removed his air show.
Cruz said he dismissed with Car threatening to cancel ABC’s transmission license on Kimmel’s comments about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“He says: ‘We can do this in the easy way, or we can do this in the difficult way,'” said the senator about Carr in the last episode of his podcast, “verdict with Ted Cruz”, which was broadcast on Friday morning.
“And I must say that it is right in ‘Goodfellas,” said Cruz, referring to the classic mafia movie.
“That is out of a gangster who enters a bar that goes, ‘good bar that you have here, it would be a shame if something happened to him,” he said.
“Look, I like Brendan Carr. He is a good guy, he is the president of the FCC. I work in close collaboration with him, but what he said is dangerous as hell,” Cruz said at another time in the episode.
Cruz’s comments disagreed with President Donald Trump, who applauded Kimmel’s suspension and then called Car “outstanding.”
Trump, asked later on Friday about Cruz’s comments, said: “I think Brendan Car is an incredible American patriot with courage.”
“I think Brendan Car does not like to see that waves are used illegally and incorrectly,” Trump said.
“So I don’t agree with Ted Cruz on that,” he added.
Cruz said in the podcast that he is not a Kimmel fan, and that he is “excited to have been fired” for his comments about Kirk.
“But let me tell him that if the government is in the business of saying: ‘We do not like what the media have said, we will prohibit it from the waves if we do not say what we like,’ that will end badly for the conservatives,” Cruz said.
Kimmel, who has been suspended but not fired, said in his initial monologue on Monday night that “The Maga Gang” is “trying desperately to characterize this child who murdered Charlie Kirk as something else than one of them and doing everything possible to write down his political points.”
On Wednesday, Carr criticized Kimmel in detail during an appearance in the podcast of the right -wing commentator Benny Johnson.
ABC has “a license granted by us in the FCC, and that comes with the obligation to operate in public interest,” Carr said.
“But, frankly, when you see things like that, I mean, look, we can do this in the easy way or in the difficult way,” he said. “These companies can find ways to change the behavior, take measures, frankly, in Kimmel, or you know, there will be an additional job for the FCC ahead.”
Hours later, ABC and Nexstar Media Group, which houses local stations affiliated with ABC, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely.
Nexstar announced in August a planned acquisition of $ 6.2 billion Tegna, a fusion that will require the approval of the FCC.
The FCC did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comments on Cruz’s comments.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct the writing of this appointment of Ted Cruz: “But let me tell you, if the government puts in business to say: ‘We do not like what the media have said, we are going to prohibit you from the waves if you do not say what we like’, that will end badly for the conservatives.” An earlier version contained a transcription error.
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