Silencing Kimmel

Summary

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Today, Explained — “Silencing Kimmel”

Aired: September 19, 2025
Host(s): Sean Rameswaram, Noel King
Guests: Margaret Hartman (Senior Editor, Intelligencer), Lilly Loofborough (TV critic, Washington Post)

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Episode Overview

This episode unpacks the recent suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show by ABC, tracing its roots from Kimmel’s evolution into a vocal critic of Trump-era politics to alleged government and industry moves to suppress dissent on air. The conversation explores the interplay between political pressure, the FCC’s unprecedented involvement under Chair Brendan Carr, and the changing economic and cultural relevance of late-night TV. The hosts, joined by media and television experts, ask: Is this a free speech crisis, a business play, or both?

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jimmy Kimmel’s Journey: From “The Man Show” to Political Critic

• Margaret Hartman reflects on Kimmel’s beginnings:

  • Started as co-host of Comedy Central's “The Man Show” (early 2000s), known for a “men vs. feminism” angle and “girls on trampolines” as a notorious closing gag.
  • (03:11) “The famous ending to the show was girls jumping on trampolines because of course, this is what all men really want to see.” — Margaret Hartman

• Transformation to political commentator:

  • Kimmel became more politically engaged during Trump’s presidency, especially visible during a passionate 2017 monologue about his son’s heart condition and the GOP’s attempts to repeal Obamacare.
  • (04:24) “If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make. I think that’s something that, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or something else. We all agree on that, right? I mean, we do.” — Jimmy Kimmel (quoted by Margaret, 04:24)
  • Kimmel's emotional appeals contributed to stalling GOP efforts on health care— “It was such a viral moment … an unusual sight for a late night host.” (04:41)

• Kimmel’s post-Trump-firing criticism:

  • Became a consistent, high-profile critic of Trump, both in monologues on show and at events like the 2024 Oscars, where he read a negative Truth Social review from Trump live, leading Hollywood to laugh at the former president (07:27).

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2. Trump’s Retaliation & the Pattern of Political Pressure

• Revealed attempts to silence Kimmel:

  • Rolling Stone (2023) reported Trump pressured Disney/ABC execs to "censor Kimmel" in 2018, referencing “dishonest things” Kimmel had said.
  • Trump also targeted other hosts (SNL, Fallon, Colbert) but “no one as consistently or angrily as Jimmy Kimmel” (09:35).

• Anticipation and realization of ‘the purge’:

  • Trump repeatedly predicted on Truth Social (“Jimmy Kimmel is next to go in the untalented late night sweepstakes.” — Trump, 09:16). He apparently took credit for hosts being "gone” and wished to see others fall: “Oh, you delicate, chubby little teacup, did we hurt your feelings?” (Trump, 09:44)

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3. The Incident: What Led to Kimmel’s Suspension?

• The spark:

  • Kimmel made comments linking the assassin of Charlie Kirk to MAGA ideology. Conservative critics, including FCC Chair Brendan Carr on Benny Johnson’s show, denounced Kimmel, demanding "remedies." (11:30)
  • Quote (Kimmel): "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." (11:37)

• Network reaction:

  • Major broadcasting groups, Nexstar and Sinclair, refused to air his show, replacing it with tributes to Kirk.
  • Trump inaccurately claimed Kimmel was “fired” or “cancelled”; in reality, Kimmel was suspended, and as of Friday morning he had not commented (11:14).

• Was this justified?

  • Hartman: “It’s definitely not the most extreme thing anyone has said after this tragedy,” highlighting that the reaction may not align with the actual content of Kimmel’s remarks (11:30).

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4. The Shift in Power: Why Does Trump Still Care About Late Night?

• Cultural legacy:
  • Hartman suggests Trump’s animus is partly generational: “When he was coming up … late night was huge. […] In Trump's mind, these guys maybe have a bit more cultural power than they actually do.” (12:25)
  • With younger audiences disengaged, clips circulate more on TikTok/YouTube.

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5. The FCC’s Role & The Business of Punishing Dissent

• Lilly Loofborough explains FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s evolving narrative:

  • First, Carr called Kimmel's comments “some of the sickest conduct possible” and suggested “we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” effectively pressuring companies to self-censor or face regulatory scrutiny (17:04–17:41).
  • Then, Carr pivots:
    • Criticizes late night for “being court clerics and enforcing a very narrow political ideology.” (18:21)
    • Later frames Kimmel’s suspension as the consequence of “the free market” and declining profitability in late night.

• Nexstar and Sinclair’s motives:

  • Both broadcasting giants are seeking FCC approval for massive expansion deals; specifically, Nexstar wants a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, which requires a rule change to allow one company to reach up to 80% of US homes (currently capped at 39%) (19:23).
  • Pulling Kimmel off the air seemingly curries favor with Carr, who has discretion over both merger approval and rule changes.

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6. The Broader Implications: Free Speech, Government Power & Media Consolidation

• Open collusion?

  • Trump explicitly links FCC action to punitive measures against TV networks:
    • “I would think maybe their license should be taken away. […] It will be up to Brent, to Carr. I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He's a patriot, he loves our country, and he's a tough guy.” (Trump, 23:31)
  • Loofborough: "That gets rid of any plausible deniability that there was not basically collusion and coordination happening between them." (23:51)

• Chilling effect:

  • “They are normalizing an environment in which you need to punish the president's critics [...] The naked corruption of that is deeply disconcerting.” (25:07)
  • The stakes reach beyond late night: If Nexstar’s reach expands to 80% of households and networks limit content to appease regulators, “that's beyond worrying... it’s a very dire moment.” (25:07–26:35)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Margaret Hartman on Kimmel’s transformation:
  “Did you ever think, man, that guy one day is gonna be the leader of the resistance?”
  “No, absolutely not.” (03:17-03:22)

• Kimmel on health care:
  "If your baby is going to die and it doesn't have to, it shouldn't matter how much money you make...We all agree on that, right? I mean, we do." (04:24, as recounted by Hartman)

• Trump (on Truth Social, re: Kimmel):
  “Jimmy Kimmel is next to go in the untalented late night sweepstakes, which is alarming because I don’t know if you know this. Jimmy Kimmel is me.” (09:16)

• Brendan Carr (FCC), pressure tactics:
  “We can do this the easy way or the hard way…there’s going to be additional work for the FCC.” (17:41)

• Lilly Loofborough (on the FCC’s shift):
  “There is a kind of timeline that you can trace between what Donald Trump posts on Truth Social and the actions that Carr seems to be taking shortly thereafter. He has never made any effort to really protect the agency from charges that it's responding to the President.” (22:27)

• Lilly Loofborough (on danger to free speech):
  “They are normalizing an environment in which you need to punish the president's critics. [...] The naked corruption of that is deeply disconcerting. [...] That's beyond worrying. So it's, you know, it's a very dire moment.” (25:07–26:35)

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------| | 02:22 | Kimmel’s origins— “The Man Show” | | 03:34 | Political awakening during Trump years | | 04:24 | Landmark Obamacare monologue | | 07:27 | Oscars/Truth Social roast; Hollywood laughs at Trump | | 09:16 | Trump: “Jimmy Kimmel is next to go...” (threats) | | 11:14 | The immediate Kimmel suspension incident | | 12:25 | Late night’s changing influence | | 17:04 | FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s initial condemnation | | 18:21 | Carr shifts to media-critique rhetoric | | 19:23 | Nexstar’s merger ambitions explained | | 23:31 | Trump: “Maybe their license should be taken away...” | | 25:07 | Loofborough: Threat to free speech and media freedom | | 26:35 | Loofborough: Dire moment for media consolidation |

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Tone & Takeaways

This episode has an urgent, at times incredulous tone, amplifying the seriousness of coordinated political, regulatory, and corporate actions to suppress criticism and independent commentary on national television. The guests—Hartman and Loofborough—speak candidly and critically, warning that beyond any ratings or profit narrative, real threats to free speech and government overreach are emerging. The repeated returns to direct quotes—especially from Trump and Carr—provide memorable and unsettling insight into evolving American media politics.

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Summary prepared for listeners who want a thorough, structured, and insightful recap of the “Silencing Kimmel” episode of Today, Explained.

Transcript

[Aman Al Sardis]

If you were worried, you'd never hear another late night host mock the President again. It's gonna be okay. Jon Stewart decked his set out in gold.

[Donald Trump]

Is Donald Trump stifling free speech?

[John]

Of course not, John.

[Donald Trump]

Americans are free to express any opinion we want.

[Noel]

Seth Meyers knows Trump's threatening him personally.

[John]

If you've ever seen me say anything.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Negative about him, that's just AI. Jimmy Fallon got dubbed during the TR.

[Donald Trump]

Protesters managed to project images onto the sides of Windsor Castle of Trump standing next to his good friend Jeff Goldblum.

[Noel]

Colbert at this point has nothing to lose.

[John]

Remember, like in week one of his.

[Donald Trump]

Presidency, Gulf of America. Call it Gulf of America, sure seems.

[John]

Harmless, but with an autocrat, you cannot give an inch.

[Aman Al Sardis]

And Jimmy Kimmel still hasn't said a thing.

[Noel]

Silencing Kimmel Coming up on Today Explained.

[Margaret Hartman]

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[John]

Now your host for TODAY explained.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Jimmy.

[John]

Steve.

[Aman Al Sardis]

I mean, Sean Ramis Firm Margaret Hartman is here. She's a senior editor at Intelligencer. Margaret, how long have you been aware of the comedian Jimmy Kimmel?

[Margaret Hartman]

Oh, I've been aware of Jimmy Kimmel since I was in high school. I was a Man show reviewer a little bit.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Surprisingly good to remember that Jimmy Kimmel was once the co host of the Man Show. Can you remind people what the man show was for people who don't remember?

[Margaret Hartman]

Yes, the man show was a sketch comedy show on Comedy Central and it was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla.

[Donald Trump]

Grab a beer and drop your hips and get your man. It's a Man show.

[Margaret Hartman]

The theme was kind of men pushing back against the scourge of feminism.

[Donald Trump]

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, pioneers in the field of bitching, moaning and complaining. Men feel Intimidated by a woman who can beat them at a sport. We wouldn't know.

[Margaret Hartman]

The famous ending to the show was girls jumping on trampolines because of course, this is what all men really want to see.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Did you ever think, man, that guy one day is gonna be the leader of the resistance?

[Margaret Hartman]

No, absolutely not.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Talk about how Jimmy Kimmel goes from that guy to a political awokening maybe.

[Margaret Hartman]

Yeah, he became much more political in the Trump years. He's hosted his late night show, I think since the early 2000s. And well, about five months into Trump's first term, the Republicans were trying to repeal Obamacare. And Kimmel gave this incredible 13 minute monologue where he talked about how passionate he was about protecting people with pre existing conditions.

[Donald Trump]

I have a story to tell about something that happened to our family last week. I'm sorry. You know, I try not to get emotional, but it was a scary story.

[Margaret Hartman]

So he opened up about his son Billy, who was born with a heart condition, and talked about how pre Obamacare, someone with a condition like Billy's probably might not have been able to get life saving care if they didn't have wealthy parents.

[Donald Trump]

If your baby is going to die and it doesn't have to, it shouldn't matter how much money you make. I think that's something that, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or something else. We all agree on that, right? I mean, we do.

[Margaret Hartman]

The tide was already kind of turning against the GOP's Obamacare repeal push at that point. But that was seen as the final bloke that got so much media attention. It was such a viral moment. And it's unusual to see a late night host tearing up about the importance of children having health insurance. So it really struck a chord with public. How does Trump respond about six months later? We actually didn't know this at the time, but in early 2018, Trump had people at the White House reach out to Disney executives and try to censor Kimmel. So we only found this out in 2023 from a rolling Stone report. Talked about how multiple people knew about it at the time, that Trump said something about how Kimmel was doing very dishonest things that he would have once sued him over if he wasn't president. It's possible that Trump also reached out to executives at other companies and tried to censor them as well. He did something similar with Saturday Night Live. But it does seem that he was particularly irritated with Jimmy Kimmel just one year into his presidency.

[Aman Al Sardis]

And that's partly because Jimmy Kimmel didn't Just stop at this Obamacare repeal, Right?

[Margaret Hartman]

That's right. He continued speaking out about Trump policies. He gave a similar monologue after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. And he spoke to Trump directly. He was begging him to do something.

[Donald Trump]

Saying now, and don't you dare let anyone say it's too soon to be talking about it because he said it after Vegas. He said it after Sandy Hook. You say that after every one of these eight now fatal school shootings we had in this country this year, children are being murdered.

[Margaret Hartman]

Every late night host targets the President a bit, whoever they are. And certainly they haven't gone easy on Trump. They've probably gone harder on Trump. But Kimmel in particular had a few of these viral moments where he really articulated the case against certain Trump policies.

[Aman Al Sardis]

And beyond teary eyed monologues, he also just likes to roast the President, right?

[Margaret Hartman]

Yes. So one of their most notable moments actually happened once Trump was out of Office at the 2024 Academy Awards. Toward the end of the show, right before Best Picture was announced, Kimmel starts spe. Oh, we just got a review.

[Donald Trump]

It says, has there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars, his opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not and never can be.

[Margaret Hartman]

The commenter used the term George Sloppadopoulos. And I knew, oh no, that's truth social. That's Trump. So then you have the scene of everyone in this audience of Hollywood, a listers, Hollywood's biggest night, just laughing at Trump. And I'm assuming that did not sit well. And Trump provided some evidence that he did not love this because six weeks later, just out of nowhere, he started posting more truths about Jimmy Kimmel, mocking him inaccurately saying that he bungled the Best Picture announcement. It was actually Al Pacino and Maria.

[Donald Trump]

I see Oppenheimer.

[Margaret Hartman]

But he was clearly so upset about this that he was so still thinking about it and lashing out at him publicly six weeks later.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Of course, Kimmel isn't the first late night talk show host to lose their job, to be suspended, to be canceled. That's Stephen Colbert. How does Kimmel respond to that?

[Margaret Hartman]

That all the late night hosts, like during the writers strike, they had all come together and done a podcast together. Strike Force five, let's meet the strike force.

[Donald Trump]

Starting with the form of.

[Margaret Hartman]

So we're like, we're not in those 90s days of like late night wars. They're all really tight with each other.

[Donald Trump]

Well, I I talked to Molly, your wife, and what do you, what do you think was her answer? Do you, do you remember when you fell in love and when she fell in love or when I fell in love? That's why that makes the game a little confusing. Yeah, you wrote these questions so badly.

[Margaret Hartman]

So they all spoke out against Colbert's cancellation and Trump hit back a lot of. And funnily enough, every single time he talked about Colbert, he would mention in the next breath, I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Jimmy Kimmel's gonna go to.

[Donald Trump]

And I guess that wasn't enough for El Presidentamente because he posted the word is, and it's a strong word at that Jimmy Kimmel is next to go in the untalented late night sweepstakes, which is alarming because I don't know if you know this. Jimmy Kimmel is me.

[Margaret Hartman]

Sometimes he would mention other people. He's called out Fallon, he's called out Seth Meyers, but no one as consistently or as angrily as Jimmy Kimmel.

[Donald Trump]

And shortly thereafter Fallon will be gone. These are people with absolutely no talent who are paid millions of dollars for in all cases destroying what used to be great television. It's really good to see them go and I hope I played a major part in it. Oh, you delicate, chubby little teacup, did we hurt your feelings?

[Aman Al Sardis]

Which brings us to this week where the prophecy is realized. What happened to Jimmy Kimmel.

[Margaret Hartman]

ABC announced that they were suspending his show indefinitely over comments that he made during Monday's show about the Charlie Kirk assassination. He made a comment that got attention on the right with Benny Johnson who was interviewing FCC chair Brendan Carr. And I believe on Wednesday he was saying look at these horrible comments that Jimmy Kimmel made. And Carr said that they need to look at remedies to that. And the broadcasting groups pushed back and said they did not want to air Kimmel show and were going to air Kirk tributes instead. Now Kimmel is on suspension, though Trump has announced incorrectly that Kimmel was canceled, which isn't the case. He also said Kimmel was fired. But right now we're just kind of in a limbo state with him being suspended. And as of Friday morning Kimmel hasn't said anything.

[Aman Al Sardis]

What exactly did Kimmel say that got him suspended? Because I was trying to watch the clip on Wednesday night that apparently got him in trouble that was played on this Benny Johnson's show. And I was like, eh, not terribly inflammatory stuff here.

[Margaret Hartman]

Yeah, it's definitely not the most extreme thing anyone has said after this tragedy. Kimmel said.

[Donald Trump]

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.

[Margaret Hartman]

So MAGA World objected to him characterizing the views of Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Charlie Kirk's murder, as being one of them.

[Aman Al Sardis]

And when we think about Kimmel and Fallon and Colbert, the narrative seems to be that people aren't watching these shows as much as they used to. The audience is getting older. They're really reliant on YouTube for views, but it's not bringing enough revenue. Why is Trump so interested in late night?

[Margaret Hartman]

Well, Trump's an old school guy, and when he was coming up and becoming famous, late night was huge. We had the late night wars between Letterman and Leno, and that's very much when Trump was becoming a celebrity. And if you could appear on Carson, you'd made it, you were a star. So I think in Trump's mind, these guys maybe have a bit more cultural power than they actually do. If you talk to some random Gen Z kid who maybe only sees a Kimmel clip once in a while on TikTok, if that. So he sees all these celebrities, all these TV guys disrespecting him, and I think that may be what's fueling the.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Anger a little bit, but also kind of the American way that's true.

[Margaret Hartman]

Free speech, First Amendment. Maybe some people in the administration should look it up.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Margaret Hartman, intelligencer at New York Magazine. You can [e-mail] Coming up next, what.

[Noel]

In the FCC is Brendan Carr doing?

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[Noel]

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[Margaret Hartman]

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[Lilly Loofborough]

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[Noel]

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[Margaret Hartman]

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[Margaret Hartman]

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[Donald Trump]

Now a spot announcement.

[Margaret Hartman]

Thank you.

[Donald Trump]

Spot. Here we go. Explained.

[Lilly Loofborough]

I'm Lilly Loofborough and I am the TV critic for the Washington Post.

[Noel]

The FCC chair, Brendan Carr has been all over the television talking about Jimmy Kimmel. What's he been saying?

[Lilly Loofborough]

Well, he's been saying a lot of things, not all of which hang together particularly well, but the first thing that he said was on the Benny Johnson podcast.

[John]

You know, when you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible, where he basically.

[Lilly Loofborough]

Built a case against Jimmy Kimmel in.

[John]

What appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into that narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or Republican motivated person. If that's what happened here with his conduct, that is, that is really, really sick.

[Lilly Loofborough]

So he was very emphatic in that conversation that frankly, when you see stuff.

[John]

Like this, I mean, 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.

[Lilly Loofborough]

As we know, nexstar and Sinclair both complied and pulled Kimmel's show off the airwaves. And since then, I would say that Brendan Carr's story has changed a bit.

[Noel]

What's he saying now?

[Lilly Loofborough]

Well, Wednesday on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News, he suggested that the real problem was that late night hosts had transitioned away from laugh lines to applause lines.

[John]

They went from being court jesters that would make fun of everybody in power to being court clerics and enforcing a very narrow political ideology. And nexstar, as you noted, stood up and said, look, we have the license and we don't want to run this anymore. We don't think it serves the interests of our community. Sinclair did the same thing. So there's more work to go, but I'm very glad.

[Lilly Loofborough]

So that's a very different case than the one he was originally building, which seemed to be that the American public was being actively misled in a conspiracy. This was instead a critique of late night hosts and the increasingly political nature of the content of those monologues. Since then, he has argued a third thing, which is that late night comedy was no longer profitable. And so this is just the free market at work.

[Noel]

You write that Neckstar, which decided to pull Kimmel, may not have done this for reasons of the free market, but because Nexstar wants something from Brendan Carr and the FCC. Or what does Nextstar want?

[Lilly Loofborough]

Yes, Nexstar is in the midst of finalizing a $6.2 billion deal with Tegna, which is another broadcasting company. And if that deal goes through, Nextstar's reach to US households would increase from 39% to 80%. So it would be a huge jump, obviously, for Nextstar, tremendously profitable. It would massively expand their audiences and presumably their profits. However, not only are they awaiting approval from Trump's fcc, headed by Brendan Carr, they also need the FCC to change a long standing rule about broadcasters, which holds that no company can hold, can collectively reach more than 39% of U.S. households. And so obviously they need that to change. So there are two pretty important asks that nexstar has for cars specifically. One is for him to approve the merger, and two is for him to change that rule so that the merger can go through.

[Noel]

It wasn't just nexstar. Sinclair Broadcasting Group also pulled Kimmel. Why do you think that is?

[Lilly Loofborough]

Sinclair, which is the second largest owner of TV stations in the country, has also been lobbying to raise that 39% cap. And they have also been lobbying actively for deregulation, which Brendan Carr has given every signal that he's receptive to doing.

[John]

Carr says the FCC is committed to ending all of the rules and the regulations that are no longer necessary.

[Lilly Loofborough]

The initiative is called delete, delete, delete. So Sinclair, too has specific reasons that they want to ingratiate themselves with Carr. And they accordingly, not only praise Carr for his decision, really giving him credit that he himself seems not to be taking, but also in addition, suggesting that Jimmy Kimmel should apologize to Charlie Kirk's family, make a donation to them, and also make a donation to Turning Point usa, Charlie Kirk's organization. So they're really doubling down. And in lieu of Kimmel's show, they're going to be airing a one hour special about Charlie Kirk.

[Noel]

How does this fit in with how Brenton Carr has been behaving in his time as chair of the fcc?

[Lilly Loofborough]

Well, it's very much of a piece. Carr is the author of the Project 2025 chapter on the FCC. He has been thinking about this for some time, ostensibly in the name of protecting free speech. He has for quite a while now been targeting various companies, including social media companies like Meta, including Comcast, and of course, including abc, NBC and cbs.

[John]

What we've seen is you got national news media, abc, NBC, cbs, and they're exercising more and more control over those local TV stations. I don't think that's a good thing for the country. So we're trying to reverse that, suggesting.

[Lilly Loofborough]

That they are not serving the, quote, public interest by airing the content that they air. So this all seems to be very much in line with what Donald Trump has been suggesting needs to happen next. There is a kind of timeline that you can trace between what Donald Trump posts on Truth Social and the actions that Carr seems to be taking shortly thereafter. He has never made any effort to really protect the agency from charges that it's responding to the President. And in fact, he goes to some trouble to give Trump credit for things that the FCC has done, which is a surprising strategy for someone who is making a case for being a free speech warrior. But in interviews, he very much characterizes these legacy media networks as the enemy and as Trump's enemy and himself as kind of an avenging fury who is there to put things right.

[Noel]

President Trump was talking aboard Air Force One yesterday, essentially threatening TV networks.

[Donald Trump]

I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brent, to Carr. I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He's a patriot, he loves our country, and he's a tough guy. So we'll have to see, where does.

[Noel]

Your brain go when you hear that the President suggested the FCC should revoke TV licenses for negative coverage?

[Lilly Loofborough]

Well, he's already done that a number of times. So that part itself isn't new. He's been threatening to pull ABC and NBC's licenses since the Colbert merger. But the part that does feel new is explicitly linking that threat to Brendan Carr. That gets rid of any plausible deniability that there might have been that there was not basically collusion and coordination happening between them. You know, he just came out and said it. So I think for those of us who suspected that that was already what was happening. It's a very troubling confirmation for those who were in denial. I don't know what they say in response to that because it is a very direct link between the FCC and the president. And the president openly saying that he is using a federal agency that is supposed to be independent as a hammer to go after his critics.

[Noel]

The FCC is supposed to be an independent agency overseen by Congress. People at the moment are genuinely worried, many people are genuinely worried about censorship and freedom of speech in this country. What does it mean for freedom of speech if the chair of the FCC is apparently going after independent media?

[Lilly Loofborough]

Well, it's very chilling. They are normalizing an environment in which you need to punish the president's critics. If you're a media company seeking approval from a government agency or in some other way placate him, make him feel good, perhaps give him some money, the naked corruption of that is deeply disconcerting. And listen, that's really serious. That has implications that go way beyond late night tv. Right? I mean, this is about television. And it's also about the consolidation of media companies that can reach people through television. So if this merger goes through nexstar, which is already said that it will not air material that it deems offensive, which at this point appears to include criticism of Trump supporters, its reach is going to extend to 80% of American households. Like they have made it clear. Nexstar has made it clear that they are willing to dictate what people have access to or be dictated to, because it's pretty obvious that they are responding to external demands coming from the president and from the fcc. That's beyond worrying. So it's, you know, it's a very dire moment.

[Noel]

Lily Loofborough, she's a TV critic for the Washington Post. Danielle Hewitt and Denise Guerra produce today's show.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Aman Al Sardis, our senior editor.

[John]

Laura.

[Aman Al Sardis]

Laura Bullard's our senior researcher who checked the facts.

[Noel]

Patrick Boyd and Adrian Lilly are our engineers.

[Aman Al Sardis]

I already said my name. What's yours again?

[Noel]

Noel. It's Today Explained.

[Margaret Hartman]

Expl.