‘They’re Not Allowed To Do That’: Trump Wants FCC To Revoke Licenses Of Broadcasters Who Always ‘Hit Trump’

President Donald Trump is continuing to do fascist dictator things while he and his minions deny he’s a fascist dictator and condemn any narrative to the contrary as leftist hate speech.

A lot of people were shocked and outraged over the news that  ABC yanked “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air after Kimmel joked about the MAGA world turning the killing of Charlie Kirk into a self-serving political opportunity. What shouldn’t be shocking at all to anyone is Trump’s celebratory response to the show’s cancellation, or the fact that he’s now urging  the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke the licenses of broadcasters who are “against me” and that “give me only bad publicity or press.”

From NBC News:

“I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr,” Trump said on Air Force One, referring to the FCC chairman. “I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He’s a patriot. He loves our country, and he’s a tough guy, so we’ll have to see.”

Trump also said of evening shows on network TV: “All they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that. They’re an arm of the Democrat Party.”

A day earlier, Trump praised ABC for indefinitely pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after on-air comments its host made about the response to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

But, again, Kimmel didn’t say anything about Kirk during the monologue; he criticized Trump and his loyal cultists, so it should be noted how quickly the president’s praise of ABC and the FCC went from being about Kirk to being squarely about himself.

And the fact is, even if it were true that all these late-night shows did was “hit Trump,” well, they are “allowed to do that,” and for the president of the United States to say otherwise is a literal violation of the First Amendment, which holds that the government can’t dictate what the people or the press can and can’t say. And that’s the rub: conservatives regularly accuse liberal civilians of being anti-free speech because they move to “cancel” people they disagree with by calling for boycotts and going after their employment. However, the thing they call “cancel culture” is not censorship; it’s the result of everyone having a voice. When it comes down to it, no one who is not acting as a member of the government is obligated to recognize anyone’s freedom to say whatever they want, because they have no legal ability to take away that right anyway. But now, we’re talking about the man who holds the highest position in our federal government, urging a federal department to silence his detractors. That is a picture-perfect example of the government overreach and free speech infringement Republicans always fearmongered about before Trump was in office.

Also, let’s be real, Trump knows late-night TV should be able to “hit” him all they want. Otherwise, he would also be calling for broadcasting licenses to be pulled from Fox News, Newsmax, right-wing radio and all other media outlets that blindly praise him but never have a kind word to say about his political opponents or any organization the MAGA world hates (*gestures widely towards all groups that are not part of the MAGA world*).

It’s worth mentioning, of course, that Trump’s descent into using the power of his office to silence his opposition began long before Kirk was killed. Trump was already trying to deport pro-Palestine immigrants who were in the country legally and hadn’t even committed a crime the administration could name. The Trump administration, along with the rest of the GOP, has been on a warpath to ban everything it considers “woke” from K-12 classrooms and colleges across the nation, as well as museums and national parks.

These people don’t care about free speech; they care about their free speech and theirs alone. That’s really all this is about.

SEE ALSO:

Understanding The First Amendment And Why We Need To Protect It

ABC Yanks ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Over Host’s Remarks About Charlie Kirk’s Killing — Which Weren’t Even About Kirk

Trump Attacks Free Speech, As Pam Bondi Targets Journalists For ‘Hate Speech’

Professor Watchlist, Karen Attiah, And The GOP War On Free Speech