WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said that Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr's comments threatening to take action against Disney's ABC last week were "absolutely inappropriate."
Carr's threatened to revoke broadcasting licenses from ABC after late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel made remarks about Republicans' response to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
"Brendan Carr's got no business weighing in on this, but people have to also realize that despicable comments, you have the right to say them, but you don't have the right to employment," Paul added.
Ahead of ABC pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely from the airwaves last week, Carr pushed for the company to take action regarding Kimmel's comments.
"I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr said last week. "These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or you know, there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
Kimmel's removal sparked outrage from Democrats and free speech advocates, who argued that the comedian was being unfairly punished for speech that the administration disliked.
Paul also argued that "you can be fired for not being popular."
"This is television for goodness' sakes," he said. "You have to sell sponsorships. You have to sell commercials, and if you're losing money, you can be fired. But the government's got no business in it, and the FCC was wrong to weigh in."
In an interview on Fox News' "The Sunday Briefing," Trump defended Carr, calling him a "fantastic patriot."
"He really is, and he’s, I think, doing a good job, but he’s done nothing that’s over the line," the president said.
The response to Kirk's killing has sparked a wider debate over the limits of free speech and when companies can or should take action against employees.
Dozens of school staffers have been fired or suspended for comments related to Kirk. Conservatives have described firings like these as consequences, while free speech advocates argued that the comments are protected speech.
Kirk's memorial service is set to take place Sunday in Arizona. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Trump administration officials plan to attend.
Paul also weighed in on Trump’s social media post criticizing his political foes and pushing Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against them.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump said in the Saturday post. “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
Asked whether it was appropriate for the president to direct the attorney general to target his political opponents, Paul said that “lawfare in all forms is bad,” using a phrase to describe politically motivated prosecutions.
Paul argued that the cases brought against Trump were “lawfare,” but he added that “it’s also wrong if Republicans do it, too.”
“We need to get politics out of the judicial system as much as we can, but we can’t do it without acknowledging that the king of lawfare was Biden and so, yeah, it’s wrong if we do it, but it certainly was wrong when Biden and the Democrats were doing it throughout the country,” Paul said.
Democrats and prosecutors have repeatedly pushed back against conservatives’ claims that politics affected the cases brought against Trump.
