{"id":16742,"date":"2025-09-20T02:20:53","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T02:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=16742"},"modified":"2025-09-20T02:20:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T02:20:53","slug":"ted-cruz-blasts-fcc-chairs-mafioso-tactic-to-bench-kimmel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=16742","title":{"rendered":"Ted Cruz blasts FCC chair\u2019s \u2018mafioso\u2019 tactic to bench Kimmel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Senator Ted Cruz has become the most prominent Republican to criticize Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, saying President Donald Trump\u2019s top media regulator resorted to \u201cmafioso\u201d behavior to pressure Disney<\/a> Corp.\u2019s ABC to remove late night host Jimmy Kimmel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

Cruz, the chairman of the Commerce Committee and a frequent defender of the Trump administration, took to his podcast in the wake of Kimmel\u2019s indefinite suspension this week to describe Carr\u2019s actions as \u201cdangerous.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carr earlier in the week implied on another podcast that ABC could face serious consequences from the government over Kimmel\u2019s remarks about the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Only hours later, ABC pulled Kimmel\u2019s show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cruz said he doesn\u2019t believe the government should punish media companies over political disagreements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI like Brendan Carr, he\u2019s a good guy,\u201d Cruz said on his podcast, which was taped late Thursday. \u201cBut what he said there is dangerous as hell.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right outta \u2018Goodfellas,\u2019 that\u2019s right out of a mafioso going into a bar saying, \u2018Nice bar you have here, it\u2019d be a shame if something happened to it,\u2019\u201d Cruz said, using the iconic New York accent associated with the Mafia. \u201cIf the government gets in the business of saying \u2018We don\u2019t like what you the media have said, we\u2019re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don\u2019t say what we like,\u2019 that will end up bad for conservatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the podcast, Cruz emphasized he disagreed with Kimmel\u2019s comments, which he called \u201creprehensible.\u201d But he said a defamation case would have been a better approach than Carr\u2019s intervention.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel, but if it is used to silence every person in America, we will regret it,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cI like Brendan Carr but we should not be in this business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u00a0rejected<\/a>\u00a0Cruz\u2019s criticism of the FCC chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Brendan Carr is a great American patriot. So I disagree with Ted Cruz,\u201d Trump told reporters later Friday during an event in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

Cruz and Kimmel have their own history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Texas US senator challenged Kimmel to a\u00a0one-on-one basketball game<\/a>\u00a0after the comedian mocked his appearance during a show. Kimmel accepted, with the proceeds from the 2018 event going to charities the two men chose.<\/p>\n

In a brief interview in the US Capitol on Friday, Cruz noted the FCC falls under his committee\u2019s jurisdiction even as he took a swing at the other party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Democrats had the majority they did not engage in oversight,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will do our job and engage in oversight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a moderate who is not running for reelection in the swing state of North Carolina, applauded Cruz for taking a stand on what he called \u201cunacceptable\u201d behavior from the administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cruz \u201cshowed a lot of courage, and he will be on the right side of history and he\u2019s definitely on the right side of the law,\u201d Tillis said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have spent days insisting Disney made its own financial decision by suspending Kimmel and declining to criticize Carr. Carr said the company made its own decision but said there will be more changes to the media ecosystem ahead.<\/p>\n

Democrats have uniformly said Carr has violated the First Amendment and have called on Republicans to push back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublican senators should not want to see a weaponized FCC that can go after conservative commentators by some future administration,\u201d said Senator Adam Schiff of California.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Fortune Global Forum<\/strong> returns Oct. 26\u201327, 2025 in Riyadh. CEOs and global leaders will gather for a dynamic, invitation-only event shaping the future of business. Apply for an invitation.<\/a><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senator Ted Cruz has become the most prominent Republican to criticize Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, saying President Donald Trump\u2019s top media regulator resorted to \u201cmafioso\u201d behavior to pressure Disney Corp.\u2019s ABC to remove late night host Jimmy Kimmel.\u00a0 Cruz, the chairman of the Commerce Committee and a frequent defender of the Trump administration, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":872,"featured_media":16743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nTed Cruz blasts FCC chair\u2019s \u2018mafioso\u2019 tactic to bench Kimmel | Unlock Informed Choices with Us<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cThat\u2019s right outta \u2018Goodfellas,\u2019 that\u2019s right out of a mafioso going into a bar saying, \u2018Nice bar you have here, it\u2019d be a shame if something happened to it.\u2019\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=16742\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ted Cruz blasts FCC chair\u2019s \u2018mafioso\u2019 tactic to bench Kimmel | Unlock Informed Choices with Us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThat\u2019s right outta \u2018Goodfellas,\u2019 that\u2019s right out of a mafioso going into a bar saying, \u2018Nice bar you have here, it\u2019d be a shame if something happened to it.\u2019\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=16742\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unlock Informed Choices with Us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-20T02:20:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/topat10.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2234679238-e1758323276931.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emily Birnbaum, Steven T. 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