Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has attracted attention for his comments on Jimmy Kimmel, the ABC late-night host whose First Amendment rights supporters argue were targeted by the Trump administration.
Carr became the center of controversy this week after Kimmel’s show was suspended indefinitely due to the comedian’s statement on conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s recent assassination. Kimmel’s suggestion on Monday that right-wing Republicans were responsible for Kirk’s death sparked swift criticism, including from Carr, due to evidence that his comments contradicted information indicating Kirk’s accused killer held left-wing views.
Critics say Carr’s comments weighing in on the controversy spurred Kimmel’s suspension, marking an unconstitutional display of government power to interfere with protected free speech. Others have argued Carr made no move to legally target Kimmel and credited the comedian’s fall from grace to ABC’s decision as his employer.
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Who is Brendan Carr?
Carr only recently rose to power as head of the FCC. President Donald Trump tapped Carr, then the top Republican in the FCC and one of five commissioners at the agency, to head the commission shortly after Trump won reelection last November. Carr was unanimously confirmed to a new five-year term in 2023 and had served as a commissioner since 2017. Prior to that, Carr served as the agency’s general counsel. Before first joining the FCC as a staff member in 2012, he worked as an attorney at Wiley Rein LLP and clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
At the time of Carr’s appointment to lead the FCC, which regulates internet access and communications networks such as TV and radio, Trump praised him as a “warrior for Free Speech” and someone who has “fought against the regulatory lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms.” Upon his appointment, Carr pledged to “dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans.”
Prior to his ascension to the top of the FCC, Carr had long criticized the government and leading tech companies for promoting what he characterized as a culture of censorship and bias online. The First Amendment guarantees the right to have open debate on the internet that is inclusive of nearly all speech, not just viewpoints certain people or political parties align with, Carr argued, directing particular ire toward policies from social media platforms that targeted posts and users spreading alleged “disinformation” for removal, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Biden administration.
Carr’s involvement with Project 2025
Last year, Carr wrote the FCC chapter for the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which aspired to be the conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term in office.
In that selection, Carr expressed concern that Big Tech companies such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube have engaged in unconstitutionally censorious activities. He advocated narrowing the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields online platforms from liability for content that users post. Carr hoped to restrict immunity under Section 230, arguing that the current broad interpretation of Section 230 allows platforms to censor conservative viewpoints with impunity while maintaining legal protection.
“Today, a handful of corporations can shape everything from the information we consume to the places we shop,” Carr wrote. “These corporate behemoths are not merely exercising market power, they are abusing dominant positions,” he added, warning of “threats to individual liberty posed by corporations that are abusing dominant positions in the market.”
Last November, Carr targeted Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft for playing “central roles in the censorship cartel” and for promoting “Orwellian” fact-checking policies. Facebook and other platforms have since dropped or scaled back controversial fact-checking policies.
Carr has also been known as a vocal supporter of X owner Elon Musk, a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist. In addition, Carr has advocated tougher restrictions on China, including calling for TikTok to be banned due to fears the social media platform’s ties to Beijing make it a danger to national security.
Carr and Kimmel: Charlie Kirk’s assassination sparks debate
The FCC chairman became the subject of extensive debate this week for comments he made responding to Kimmel’s Monday show, on which the comedian said, “The MAGA gang is 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’s comments provoked outrage on the Right, as authorities have said Kirk’s accused assassin appeared to hold left-wing views.
Carr offered his opinion on the matter this week, with critics saying ABC’s eventual move to suspend Kimmel’s show came as a result of political pressure from the FCC, a move they say puts democratic institutions at the mercy of the government.
Carr first made comments on right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson’s show on Tuesday, when the FCC chairman was asked about whether there was anything he could do to get Kimmel to stop lying about conservatives on his show.
Carr responded, “As you’ve indicated, there are avenues here for the FCC, so there are some ways in which I need to be a little bit careful because we could be called ultimately to be a judge on some of these claims that come up, but I don’t think this is an isolated incident. … In some quarters, there is a very concerted effort to try to lie to the American people about the nature, as you indicated, of one of the most significant newsworthy public interest acts that we’ve seen in a long time.”
“These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action frankly on Kimmel,” Carr continued, “or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead. … I mean, obviously, look, there’s calls for Kimmel to be fired. I think you know you could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this, and again, you know the FCC is going to have remedies that we could look at, and again you know we may ultimately be called to be a judge on that.”
The following day, ABC decided to “indefinitely” suspend Kimmel’s show, prompting speculation that the media company felt pressured to do so by the government, which critics painted as an egregious violation of the First Amendment and a descent into “cancel culture.”
Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) was one of the harshest critics, suggesting that Kimmel’s suspension on Wednesday was the first step on the path of an authoritarian regime or the beginning of another Holocaust.
“This is the playbook, folks. If you’re not paying attention now and doing something about it, well then you’re going to have to sit down the rest of your life, because democracy is being taken away,” he said.
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On Tuesday, Carr slapped down suggestions that the government should get involved in cracking down on speech, arguing that the First Amendment protects a nearly absolute right to free speech.
“I think you can draw a pretty clear line, and the Supreme Court has done this for decades, that our First Amendment, our free speech tradition, protects almost all speech,” Carr said during Politico’s 2025 AI & Tech Summit.