Trump’s free speech threats ESCALATE: 47 calls for Jimmy Kimmel to be FIRED

[0:00] New in Donald Trump's crackdown on freedom of speech today, making an explicit threat against [0:05] comedian Jimmy Kimmel, asking when Disney would fire him and that it, quote, better be soon. [0:11] That following a new FCC investigation of ABC and Disney with their broadcasting licenses [0:18] at risk. Bloomberg reporting, quote, although the license review order cites potential workplace [0:25] discrimination as the reason for scrutiny, people familiar with the matter said it was precipitated [0:30] by President Donald Trump's plea for ABC to fire late night host Jimmy Kimmel. FCC Chair Brendan [0:37] Carr was asked about the investigation today. Watch. And then will the Jimmy Kimmel, will that all [0:44] or any speech issues be part of this review? Is it solely restricted to DEI, the license, the early [0:50] license reviews? Our DEI review is going to continue and it's going to be part of that. Disney as part [0:55] of the filing is going to have to come in and demonstrate that they've been operating in the [0:59] public interest. Now, that's not exactly a clear denial, as critics believe that Trump is using [1:06] the levers of government to punish Kimmel. You'll recall this is Kimmel's second clash with Trump [1:12] and the FCC after he was suspended and then reinstated last fall after a public outcry, both [1:18] times because Trump didn't like Kimmel's jokes. But Kimmel is not backing down. Our first couple, [1:27] Donald and Melania, who lately have seemed closer than ever. And I like to think I played a part in [1:31] that. Maybe get him one of those bricks that locks him out of his phone between hours of midnight and [1:38] sick. Now, this latest Kimmel conflict, part of Trump's broad attempts to crack down on freedom [1:44] of expression in this country, as the Atlantic reports, quote, in marshalling regulatory power [1:49] against ABC and Disney, FCC Chair Carr has given the White House another way to extend control over the [1:56] media. All of this as a new global report shows that press freedom in the United States is [2:01] declining. The annual World Press Freedom Index from the organization Reporters Without Borders [2:07] is now ranking the United States at 64, sliding down seven spots. Their report signing Donald Trump's [2:15] leadership as a key factor in their ranking, turning his, quote, repeated attacks on the press and [2:21] journalists into a systemic policy. Joining me now is David Litt, former speechwriter for President Obama [2:27] and author of the Word Salad Substack and Christina Greer, political science professor at Fordham [2:33] University. It's great to have both of you with us. So the last time, David, that Donald Trump went up [2:38] against Jimmy Kimmel, he lost. There was a moment of pause. No doubt there was a lot of pressure that was [2:44] leveled against ABC and Disney by the affiliates and others. But in the end, we can say for now, [2:51] freedom of speech prevailed. Jimmy Kimmel was reinstated. How do you see it playing out this [2:54] time? Well, I don't want to make predictions, especially about the future. But what I will say [3:00] is it feels like with the Iran war going poorly, the Trump administration has decided to open a second [3:06] front and redo the war with Jimmy Kimmel. And I think that this is a president who always needs [3:11] grievance. He always needs someone to bully. But I think what's really interesting this time is [3:16] Disney last time around caved immediately, and then they kind of uncaved after a public outcry. [3:22] We'll see what happens. But this time around, Disney is not, as Trump is complaining about, [3:26] firing Jimmy Kimmel right off the bat. And so what you see is maybe, maybe a sign that some of these [3:31] corporations are starting to weigh this out and say, hey, this is more bluster than we thought. And the [3:37] cost of cooperating with this guy is actually higher than the cost of going along with it. [3:42] Yeah, for the most part, Christina, the companies have been going along with Trump. When you think [3:48] of like the settlements that have been made, when you hear Pete Hexeth talking about he can't wait [3:53] for Larry Ellison to own CNN so he can get favorable coverage of the Iran war. So how do you read this [4:00] moment in time? The U.S. is sliding down that press freedom index, 64, sliding down, seven from last [4:07] year. But at the same time, we're seeing this, as they described it, systemic policy to attack the [4:12] media. Right. So really quickly, Eamon, it's Israel and U.S. war on Iran. And I think that that's part of [4:20] the issue that this administration is really frustrated with, because so many Americans are [4:24] recognizing there is no leadership and guidance in this administration. Trump 2.0 is just off the [4:32] rails. And so, to David's point, a lot of Americans are saying, you're focusing on all the wrong things. [4:37] You're attacking Jimmy Kimmel and ABC and demanding essentially shakedowns. What about my gas prices? [4:43] Right. What about housing? What about what's going on at the grocery store? So this misguided [4:47] 2.0 administration is really, I think, frustrating a lot of Trump supporters. And if we think about [4:55] the three branches of government, we've seen Trump sort of take over the executive in a [4:59] dictatorial sense. We've seen him bully Congress into essentially a feckless institution, even [5:04] though it's unified government. We've seen the courts essentially acquiesce and give him whatever [5:08] you want. So if we have this sort of fourth arm, that's the media. He wants to take over that as [5:12] well. And I think slowly but surely, he's eroded quite a bit. We've seen CBS acquiesce in many ways, [5:19] you know, lots of other institutions. But I think some are saying, we can't give you everything you want, [5:23] because this is actually quite ridiculous that we would fire someone for a joke that was made well [5:29] before an incident on Saturday. Yeah, he didn't even know about the incident, obviously. And so [5:33] that was the whole issue here. Stephen Miller hosted—sorry, Stephen Miller's wife on her [5:39] podcast yesterday hosted Brendan Carr. And it's interesting to see how the FCC has evolved here. [5:44] I don't think most Americans knew about the FCC a couple of years ago, and yet somehow has become [5:49] weaponized by Donald Trump in his kind of pursuit of controlling the media. Take a listen to what he [5:54] said. Look at the changes over the last couple of years that I think are attributable to Trump [6:01] running at the fake news media. You've got NPR defunded. You've got PBS defunded. You've got CBS [6:07] having new ownership. CNN is getting new ownership. So it's a big ship to turn. But I think things are [6:15] heading in the right direction. So he's saying the quiet part out loud, right? I mean, I guess, [6:19] I—you know, for us in the media who are following this, it is an attempt by the administration to [6:25] take control of the media one way or the other. Brendan Carr, the chair of this FCC commission, [6:31] came out and explicitly said what this was all about. Yeah, well, first of all, let me say, [6:36] it's amazing to me that what used to be the party of small government is now the party of, [6:41] you know who the chair of the Federal Communications Commission is, right? Like, [6:44] that is government interference on a level one of us want. Well, they're also buying Spirit [6:47] Airlines and taking control of that. But that's another issue. Well, I think it's the same issue, [6:51] actually. All of these things coming together where Trump and his administration say, [6:55] we want government control. We want our hands in everything. And as you pointed out, right, [7:00] they're not even ashamed to admit it. They're not even pretending they're doing something different [7:03] right now. And I think that is, on one hand, it is incredibly dangerous. And on the other hand, [7:09] I do think that something that gives me a lot of hope is the American people don't like it. [7:13] Fundamentally, we don't want government in our lives in that way. And interestingly, [7:19] it's not just Republicans or Democrats who are saying so. Most Americans feel like that. [7:24] So a very important point. Most Americans are saying they don't like it. The question is, [7:28] what guardrails do we have? What should be done to make sure that another Brendan Carr, [7:35] if we survive this one, if our democracy survives it, if our media landscape survives what he's doing [7:40] with Donald Trump, comes out on this, the other side, with a stronger, more vibrant, [7:44] more independent media landscape? [7:46] Yeah, I think if and when the Democrats take control of the House and possibly even the Senate [7:50] because of the draconian policies that we're seeing out of the Trump administration, [7:54] they're going to have to figure out ways to shore up and secure certain institutions. [7:59] We've realized during the first and second integration of Donald Trump, so many things [8:03] that we thought were hard and fast laws, even, or rules, are just gentlemen's agreements. [8:09] They're norms that most people followed, but he's thrown them out of the window. [8:13] And so when so many Democrats and independents are clamoring for a party that is not just against [8:18] Donald Trump, but a party that wants to do something, these are some of the things that [8:22] Democrats can say they're going to do to protect our media, to protect the flow of information, [8:27] to make sure that we can't have another Republican or whomever come after Donald Trump and try [8:32] and take away civil rights and civil liberties. [8:34] You brought up the way the Trump administration is potentially trying to shift the narrative [8:38] away from the Iran war. Take a listen to how he talked about it in the Oval Office today, [8:42] the Iran war. Watch. [8:45] I see it in a stupid CNN, which I only watch because you have to watch a little bit of the [8:50] enemy. So I watch it for a very short period. But you have to, you know, you have to be smart. [8:55] And if you see CNN, you think they're winning the war. If you read the New York Times, [9:01] it's actually seditious, in my opinion. [9:04] So him calling the media enemy of the people is nothing new, him referring to it there as the [9:12] enemy is nothing new. But using the word seditious to describe what the New York Times is doing [9:18] seems to be at another threshold that has been crossed. [9:22] Yeah. I mean, we were here on Saturday night and, you know, during the coverage of that. [9:29] And in the wake of that assassination attempt, you saw, predictably, Trump and other Republicans [9:35] saying, we've got to tone down the rhetoric and saying it's Democrats who are, you know, [9:40] demonizing their opponents. Now, I agree political violence is wrong and the rhetoric that encourages [9:45] it is bad. But to call media organizations like the New York Times seditious just a few days after [9:52] telling people to tone down the rhetoric, we're not surprised by the hypocrisy anymore, but we should [9:57] still be outraged by it.