House Republicans on Thursday blocked Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-Calif.) efforts to subpoena Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Chair Brendan Carr to appear before the Oversight Committee.
In a 24-21 vote along party lines, Khanna’s measure was struck down. However, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, said he plans to work alongside committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) to ensure Carr appears for testimony.
Democrats on Thursday were expressing fury over Carr’s pressure campaign against late night host Jimmy Kimmel, who was suspended indefinitely on Wednesday by ABC over remarks he made about the man suspected in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
ABC suspended Kimmel shortly after Carr during a podcast interview suggested ABC affiliate licenses could be revoked if Kimmel was not punished.
Khanna described the FCC chair’s actions as the “largest assault on the First Amendment and free speech in modern history.”
“They’re making comedy illegal. Brendan Carr pressured ABC to cancel Jimmy Kimmel and Disney cancels Jimmy Kimmel,” Khanna told lawmakers.
He also faulted the Trump administration for lecturing the nation about cancel culture, and then pushing for and celebrating Kimmel’s suspension.
Kimmel accused the MAGA movement of trying to “score political points” after Kirk’s death and said the president was experiencing the loss of the Turning Point USA co-founder like a “4-year-old mourning a gold fish,” during his Wednesday show.
He also suggested the suspect in Kirk’s killing, Tyler Robinson, was “MAGA.”
Kimmel said in his Monday night show that the country “hit some new lows over the weekend,” when the “MAGA gang desperately tried to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
It had emerged on Sunday that while Robinson’s parents were conservative, his own politics had moved to the left in recent years. It also emerged that Robinson was in a relationship with a roommate who was transitioning from male to female, and that Robinson was upset Kirk’s views on the issue.
