Congressional Cowards is a weekly sequence highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—regardless of how disgraceful or lawless his actions.
A lot for being free-speech warriors.
GOP lawmakers have applauded ABC’s choice on Wednesday to indefinitely droop comic Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night present, which got here after a high Trump administration official threatened the media firm over Kimmel’s gentle remarks about murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel’s ouster is an affront to free speech. And Republicans—lots of whom have claimed to be champions of free speech and detractors of so-called cancel tradition—confirmed they’re nothing however shameless hypocrites when that tradition claims somebody they do not like.
“Maybe lying about a deranged left-wing murderer wasn’t a good career move?” Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, stated of Kimmel’s present being pulled.
In fact, only a few weeks in the past Cruz launched a invoice to ban social media firms from having phrases of use insurance policies that he claimed “silence customers and deny them access to essential business technologies over their political beliefs.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, proven in January.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, made an much more absurd remark when he applauded ABC’s choice as a result of Kimmel was imply to his greatest buddy, President Donald Trump, who has lengthy hated Kimmel.
“Political activism under the guise of comedy is not very effective nor is it funny. The desire to destroy Trump took over the desire to entertain. Hopefully the next person will be tough on everyone—and actually funny,” Graham wrote in a publish on X.
Sure, this is similar Lindsey Graham who, in 2021, stated he’d “go to war” to defend restaurant chain Chick-fil-A towards cancel tradition.
Different Republicans tried to say ABC’s choice to indefinitely droop Kimmel’s present was only a enterprise transfer and had nothing to do with stress from the federal authorities—an absurd declare because the chair of the Federal Communications Fee explicitly threatened ABC in the event that they did not punish Kimmel.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr stated on Wednesday, shortly earlier than ABC introduced Kimmel’s suspension, that ABC “can do this the easy way or the hard way,” saying that in the event that they did not take away Kimmel “there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
“Ask anyone who runs a good business: you must know how to hire right, and fire right. Say anything you want. That’s your right. Doesn’t mean an employer has to keep signing your paycheck,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who lies for Expensive Chief on the common, wrote in a publish on X.
Some Republicans merely lied about what Kimmel stated as a way to justify authorities intrusion on free speech.
Jimmy Kimmel poses throughout the Inventive Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 7 in Los Angeles.
“When you can’t help joking about the murder of a human being, you don’t deserve an audience, let alone one of millions,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, wrote in a publish on X.
Kimmel, nonetheless, didn’t joke about Kirk’s loss of life. Relatively, he stated Republicans have been attempting to make use of Kirk’s loss of life to attain political factors towards Democrats, which is totally true. Since Kirk’s homicide, Republicans have been utilizing it to squelch Democratic opposition.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel stated.
And a minimum of one stated that she merely doesn’t care to observe the First Modification anymore.
“Underneath regular occasions, in regular circumstances, I are likely to assume that the First Modification ought to all the time be form of the final word proper… I do not really feel that method anymore,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) instructed Semafor.
Whereas Republicans cheer ABC’s capitulation to the Trump administration’s calls for, Democrats are taking motion.
