Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr issued a threat Thursday against ABC and Disney, suggesting he would take action over comments made by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel about the alleged Charlie Kirk assassin.
On Monday, Kimmel accused conservatives of reaching "new lows" in trying to pin a left-wing ideology on 22-year-old suspect Tyler Robinson, even though prosecutors reaffirmed those ties in Tuesday's indictment.
"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 said.
JIMMY KIMMEL SUGGESTS CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN WAS ONE OF THE 'MAGA GANG' DESPITE REPORTS OF LEFTIST LEANINGS
Appearing on Wednesday's "The Benny Show," Carr called Kimmel's comments "some of the sickest conduct" and suggested there were potential "avenues" the FCC could pursue.
"In some quarters, there's a very concerted effort to try to lie to the American people about the nature … of one of the most significant newsworthy public interest acts that we've seen in a long time in what appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into that narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or a Republican-motivated person," Carr told host Benny Johnson.
"And I've been very clear from the moment that I have become chairman of the FCC, I want to reinvigorate the public interest. And what people don't understand is that the broadcasters, and you've gotten this right, are entirely different than people that use other forms of communication. They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest," the official added.
"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
ABC REPORTER CALLS ALLEGED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN'S TEXT MESSAGES TO TRANSGENDER PARTNER 'VERY TOUCHING'
Carr signaled that an apology from Kimmel would be a "very reasonable, minimal step" but also floated a "suspension" by the network as a potential remedy. He also called on licensed broadcasters, particularly those not owned by Disney itself, to "push back" against the House of Mouse and threaten to preempt its content if action isn't taken.
"Public interest means you can't be running a narrow partisan circus and still meeting your public interest obligations," he said. "That means you can't be engaging in a pattern of news distortion."
While Carr refrained from flat-out accusing Kimmel of news distortion, citing the potential of a legal battle down the road, he did say an argument could be made that the liberal host had "an intentional effort to mislead the American people."
"This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney," Carr added.
ABC and Disney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Kimmel's comments came one day after both FBI officials and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said that Robinson held a "leftist ideology" and was increasingly radicalized in recent years. It was also revealed that he had a romantic relationship with a transgender partner who was biologically male and transitioning to female.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CHARLIE KIRK
On Tuesday, Kimmel took aim at Vice President JD Vance for "pointing his little mascara-stained finger directly at the left" as guest host of "The Charlie Kirk Show." Vance said on the show that most "lunatics" in American politics belong to the far left.
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"And by 'statistical fact,' he means complete bull---," Kimmel reacted.
