Jimmy Kimmel has ripped into Donald Trump and his administration for their continued meddling in his show.
The talk show host confirmed a recent Federal Communications Commission ruling would hinder Kimmel and his colleagues on other sets from hosting certain guests. The FCC stated that both daytime talk shows and late-night programming must offer “equal opportunities” to political candidates.
Kimmel, during his opening monologue, said, “They’re [The FCC] reinterpreting long agreed upon rules to stifle us. It’s not as easy as what happened the last time.”
“If you can’t interview all of them, you can’t interview any of them,” Kimmel said of how political candidates were vetted during the heyday of radio. Exemption rules were put into place in 1959, and then were challenged in 2006 with an appearance from Arnold Schwarzenegger on The Jay Leno Show.
While the appearance drew criticism at the time, it ruled that Schwarzenegger had made an appearance on a bona fide news programme. Trump’s “little ferret” Brendan Carr has tried to say Kimmel’s show now no longer qualifies as a news programme.
Kimmel added, “It’s his sneaky little way of keeping viewpoints that aren’t his off of the air. It’s his latest attack on free speech and it’s a joke, because this isn’t the ’50s anymore.
“There are thousands of outlets now. Broadcast TV used to account for 100% of viewing, now it’s like 20%, there are so many channels. I have no idea what the outcome of this is going to be and I guess we’ll find out.
“Whatever happens I wanted to point it out. It’s another example of this administration trying to squash anyone who doesn’t support them.
Criticism from Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez followed the announcement, with CBS News reporting her statement. She said, “Broadcasters should not feel pressured to water down, sanitize, or avoid critical coverage out of fear of regulatory retaliation.
“Broadcast stations have a constitutional right to carry newsworthy content, even when that content is critical of those in power. That does not change today, it will not change tomorrow, and it will not change simply because of this Administration’s desire to silence its critics.”
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