Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Anna Gomez said Thursday that the independent regulatory agency does not “have the authority” to retaliate against broadcasters over what they choose to run on air.
“That’s exactly the point, because we don’t have the authority to do this, because it’s against the law. We would not be able to actually take that final action, because on appeal, the FCC would be wrong on the facts and the law if, in fact, it retaliated against the … broadcasters, the local licensees, because of what they air,” Gomez, an attorney who has served at the FCC for two years, said during an appearance on CNN’s “Erin Burnett Outfront.”
“So the threats are the point, and the capitulation is so disappointing, because what we are doing is eroding, little by little, the freedom of the press, the freedom of speech on which our democracy relies,” she told host Erin Burnett. “We need the fourth estate to push back against the likes of me, to hold me and the government to account.”
Gomez’s analysis comes two days after ABC indefinitely suspended host Jimmy Kimmel’s show after the comedian received blowback following comments he made Monday about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during a recent “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” episode.
Hours before ABC’s decision, FCC Chair Brendan Carr, while on conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast, called on broadcasters “to step up and say this garbage to the extent that that’s what comes down the pipe in the future isn’t something that we think serves the needs of our local communities.”
The network’s decision, which came after Nexstar Media Group, which owns The Hill, announced its local affiliates would preempt Kimmel’s show, was welcomed by Carr and celebrated by President Trump and other administration officials.
Some Democrats have pushed back against Kimmel’s suspension — the latest since CBS announced the end of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” earlier this year — and even called on the FCC chief to resign in its wake.
Kimmel planned to address Carr’s remarks during the episode Wednesday.
He spoke with Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, about it before the show, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening, citing people familiar with the matter. Walden and other senior executives thought Kimmel’s approach could make the case worse, the Journal reported.
Earlier Thursday, Gomez said the Trump administration is “weaponizing its licensing authority in order to bring broadcasters to heel” via the FCC.
“I see this as a part of this administration’s campaign of censorship and control,” said at the Axios Media Trends Live event. “And what it’s doing is, it’s weaponizing its licensing authority in order to bring broadcasters to heel, and to really think twice about what they say about this administration.”
