Ted Cruz Bucks FCC’s Threat to Free Speech
Firebrand Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) used his podcast on Friday to fight back against Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Brendan Carr’s threat to stifle free speech in the aftermath of the Jimmy Kimmel suspension by Disney last week for comments the late-night host made about the supporters of President Trump and the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Mr. Carr “says, ‘We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way,’” opined on his podcast quoting Carr. “That’s right out of ‘Goodfellas.’ That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.’”
Cruz added that while he is no fan of Kimmel that government power abused in this manner won’t hurt just the left. “What [Mr. Carr] said there is dangerous as hell,” Cruz continued. “It might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel, but when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it.”
Carr was apparently trying to align himself with Trump who floated the idea of revoking licenses of broadcaster who criticized him.
After complaining about how the liberals abused the First Amendment the Trump administration is now threatening to do the same, but on a larger scale. As deplorable as Kimmel’s remarks may have been they are still protected under the First Amendment. The same goes for criticism of Trump by broadcasters licensed by the FCC as long as they aren’t inciting violence or advocating for the overthrow of the government.
Our nation thrives on a free and open press. This doesn’t mean we have to agree with everything they say, and in a world where social media has become a soapbox for the disgruntled, it serves no purpose in trying to limit the free speech of those we disagree with.
Stunts like this only embolden the left which is struggling to find its way in a Trump world and could easily come back to bite conservatives if the liberals regain power in the future.
Don Irvine
Donald Irvine is the chairman of of Accuracy in Academia (AIA), a non-profit research group reporting on bias in education. Irvine follows his father’s legacy, Reed Irvine, to critically analyze the liberal media’s bias and brings over thirty years of media analysis experience. He has published countless blog posts and articles on media bias, in context of current events, and he has been interviewed by many news media outlets during his professional career. He currently hosts a livestream weekly show on AIA’s Facebook page which discusses current events.
Irvine graduated from the University of Maryland and rose up the ranks to become chairman of Accuracy in Media until his transition to AIA.
He resides in the suburbs around the nation’s capital and is a proud father and grandfather.
