FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Slams Jimmy Kimmel for Misleading Americans on Charlie Kirk Assassination

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr accused late-night host Jimmy Kimmel of deliberately misleading viewers about the assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk during a Thursday interview on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," emphasizing the unique public interest obligations of broadcast networks like ABC.

The remarks came one day after ABC announced it was suspending "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" indefinitely, a decision prompted by widespread backlash from conservatives and pressure from FCC regulators over Kimmel's Tuesday monologue. In that segment, Kimmel claimed the MAGA movement was "desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them," implying the killer aligned with Republicans while seeking to politicize the tragedy.

Prosecutors in Utah formally charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder on Tuesday, revealing damning evidence that contradicted Kimmel's narrative. Robinson, a Utah resident, left a note stating "I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it," He also sent a text message confession to his transgender partner admitting to the shooting. Authorities seek the death penalty, describing the act as a premeditated political assassination during Kirk's speech at Utah Valley University. Robinson surrendered peacefully after negotiating conditions to avoid police gunfire.

Carr, appointed by President Trump to lead the FCC, drew a sharp line between Kimmel's broadcast role and unregulated cable or podcast formats. "The issue that arose here, where lots and lots of people were upset, was not a joke," Carr told CNBC's David Faber. "It was not making fun or pillorying me or the administration or [President Trump], it was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact [about] probably one of the most significant political events we've had in a long time, for the most significant political assassination we've seen in a long time. So I think that's categorically different."

He stressed that ABC, as a broadcast licensee under Disney, holds a scarce public resource that excludes others, imposing a duty to serve the public interest. "Broadcast TV is different. We're on a cable show right now. You don't have an FCC license," Carr explained. "You don't have an obligation to serve the public interest. Podcasts don't either. Stand-up comedians—whether they're on lots of forms of communication—don't, and Kimmel is free to do that. But if you have a broadcast TV license, that means you have something that very few people have... and it comes with an obligation to serve the public interest."

Carr highlighted an FCC rule permitting local stations to preempt national programming if it fails to meet community needs, praising recent resistance from affiliates like Nexstar against corporate overlords. "Recently, these national programmers—ABC, Disney, Comcast, NBC—they've been exercising outsized control and power over those local TV stations, and there's been no pushback," he said. "This is a very significant moment because local broadcasters [are] pushing back on national programmers, for the first time that I can think of in modern history, and that's what we want at the FCC. We want to empower local broadcasters that have the public interest obligation to push back on national programmers so that people have more choice."

The suspension followed Nexstar's strong objection to Kimmel's comments, with the affiliate group demanding ABC halt airing the show. Carr signaled potential further FCC scrutiny of ABC and Disney, stating, "We're not done yet." Kimmel has remained silent on the matter as affiliates reclaim control from what critics call biased national networks.