LEILA FADEL, HOST:
For more on this, we're joined by Oliver Darcy. He's the founder and author of Status, a newsletter covering media. Oliver, welcome to the program.
OLIVER DARCY: Thank you for having me.
FADEL: So you reached out to the Federal Communications chair, Brendan Carr, after this news. What did he tell you?
DARCY: Well, he was in a very celebratory mood. He did not use words, which was - it's common, I guess, for him. He doesn't usually like to respond with those. But he sent me a smiling face emoji and clearly was happy with that decision. And normally, this would be, you know, very inappropriate for an FCC chairman, but he has acted in a way that is unprecedented.
FADEL: Let's talk about that. I mean, how unusual is it for the FCC chair to threaten to take regulatory action over a joke or criticism it doesn't like?
DARCY: Extremely unusual. In fact, Brendan Carr in the past spoke out against it. He had said, quote, "political satire is one of the oldest and most important forms of free speech. It challenges those in power while using humor to draw more people in the discussion. That's why people in influential positions have always targeted it for censorship." And now he's doing exactly that. He's obviously going directly after Jimmy Kimmel, and this comes, of course, as the president rails against people like Stephen Colbert, goes after Kimmel and is now going after other comedians.
FADEL: And that tweet was before he was in power, and now he is in a position of power. But is it within its purview - FCC's purview - to go after Jimmy Kimmel in this way?
DARCY: You wouldn't expect it, no. I mean, you would not expect it. The FCC chairman can certainly have a lot of influence, as we're seeing over the last 24 hours. But the way they are going after Jimmy Kimmel, the way they are pressuring stations is extremely unprecedented. And I should also note I've spoken over the last year or so with previous FCC chairs, previous FCC commissioners, and they never talk bad about their successors. And they have all spoken out against Brendan Carr and the way he's using the office to censor Donald Trump's political critics.
FADEL: Are there any First Amendment protections here that would change the situation for people like Jimmy Kimmel and others?
DARCY: I'm not a lawyer, but it definitely does seem to be a dark time for the First Amendment. We're seeing an unprecedented crackdown from the government to go after people who are speaking out against Donald Trump. And, you know, if you are someone who does care about the First Amendment, if you're someone that wants critics to be able to thrive in this country, it's a very deeply alarming moment for free speech.
FADEL: Now, Carr made the threats against ABC affiliates in an interview Wednesday with the far-right YouTube personality Benny Johnson. And within hours, Kimmel was pulled off the air. Carr also ticked through a series of shifts in the media in recent months - NPR and PBS being defunded, Stephen Colbert's late show getting canceled, CBS taking steps to appease Trump. Based off all of that, what do you think the long game is for Carr and the Trump administration?
DARCY: I think the long game is clearly to weaponize government, to use the power and the force of the federal government to target people who speak out against this president. I think that they are making that overtly clear. They're not even really hiding from it, and you're seeing the president use the tools at his disposal to go after media outlets, including The New York Times, who he filed a $15 billion lawsuit against this week. He's filed a lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal. This administration does not want to hear from critics.
FADEL: That's Oliver Darcy. He's the founder and author of the newsletter Status. Thank you for your time and your reporting, Oliver.
DARCY: Thank you.
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