Former Trump White House Lawyer Says Kimmel Suspension ‘Evocative’ of Nazis Removing Comedians From Airwaves
Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney in President Donald Trump’s first term, said the actions of his former boss are “evocative” of an episode in which the Nazis yanked comedians from German airwaves.
On Wednesday, Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, threatened Jimmy Kimmel and ABC over comments the comedian made about Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin. Kimmel appeared to erroneously suggest that the suspected killer was a Trump supporter.
“Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said of Kimmel. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Hours later, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely, a move Trump essentially predicted last month and one that he celebrated when it happened.
Cobb appeared on Friday’s edition of Meet the Press Now, where Kristen Welker asked about the ramifications of government pressure campaigns against the media.
“It’s evocative of what we’ve seen throughout history,” Cobb said. “In 1939, Dr. Goebbels, at Hitler’s instruction, removed five comedians, or witticists as they were called at the time, from the airways in Germany and for criticizing or making fun of the government in a satire way.”
Cobb was referring to a 1939 incident in which the Nazi minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, blacklisted five entertainers because, as Goebbels put it, “in their public appearances they displayed a lack of any positive attitude toward National Socialism and therewith caused grave annoyance in public and especially to party comrades.” Goebbels accused the five of being “brazen, impertinent, arrogant and tactless.”
Cobb also drew a parallel to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Putin, when he took over in the early 2000s, one of the first things he did was systematically silence critical media outlets,” he added. “And independent TV channels were bought out or shut down. Trump is waging war on people who offend him. He’s all about vengeance. And sadly, his subordinates, like one of the Project 2025 authors, Brendan Carr of the FCC, are following in line.”
On Friday, Trump claimed that excessive criticism of him on television is “illegal” and “no longer free speech.”
Watch above via NBC News Now.
