Vance Says Trump FCC Commissioner’s Threat Over Jimmy Kimmel Was a ‘Joke’

Vice President JD Vance told a reporter during a Q&A session at a North Carolina rally on Wednesday that the FCC commissioner was “making a joke” when threatening ABC and following Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue on Charlie Kirk’s shooter, which led to widespread condemnation — including from Republicans like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY).

“Second question: Last year, when I was covering you on the campaign trail, you told Joe Rogan that the difference between Harris and Trump is that Trump is not trying to censor his fellow Americans. Wondering if you can square your fervent belief in free speech with what’s going on now with Jimmy Kimmel and the FCC pressure. We’d love to hear your thoughts on both of those,” a reporter asked Vance.

“Well, look, on the free speech conversation, I’m pretty sure that Jimmy Kimmel was back on the air last night, and to the extent that he’s not back on the air, it’s because he’s not funny and has terrible ratings. This is not a federal government problem,” Vance replied to applause. He added:

And, I want to answer your question in good faith. What people will say is, “Well, you know, didn’t the FCC commissioner put a tweet out that said something bad?” Well, Kit, compare that—the FCC Commissioner making a joke on social media. What is the government action that the Trump administration has engaged in to kick Jimmy Kimmel or anybody else off the air? Zero.

What government pressure have we brought to bear to tell people that they’re not allowed to speak their mind? Zero. We believe in free speech in the Trump administration. We are fighting every single day to protect it. Now compare that to the Biden administration, where we found out just yesterday that conservatives on YouTube and on a number of social media platforms were being censored. Why? Because the Biden Administration picked up the phone and said, “We want you to censor our political opponents.” That is real government censorship, and it left the White House when Joe Biden left the White House. Now, to Ukraine.

Trump’s hand-picked chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, joined a MAGA podcast ahead of Kimmel’s suspension and clearly said that the FCC may need to pursue “remedies” against Kimmel if ABC does not discipline him first, adding that he can “certainly see a path forward for suspension.”

“Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “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.”

Carr’s comments were widely viewed as a threat to revoke ABC’s broadcasting license, something President Donald Trump has long threatened to do to networks critical of him.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.