Under fire for allegedly threatening Disney-owned ABC to pull down Jimmy Kimmel Live over the comedian’s comments about Republicans and MAGA following the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr has denied any wrongdoing.The Trump-appointed FCC Chairman, who rose to prominence in 2024 after he wrote the chapter about the agency in the controversial Project 2025, instead blamed ratings for ABC indefinitely suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live last week. Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr. (Photo: AP)Blame it on ratings“Jimmy Kimmel is in the situation he’s in because of his ratings. Not because of anything that’s happened at the federal government level,” Carr said at the Concordia Annual Summit.Carr said late-night television hosts abandoned their role as “court jesters that make fun of everybody” and became “court clerks, where they were enforcing a very narrow, sort of partisan view.”“And that’s not for me, ultimately, to judge,” Carr said. “That’s for the ratings and the audience to judge.”What Carr said earlierThis is despite the fact that Carr, while speaking to podcaster Benny Johnson last week, said, “these companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”Carr is accused of threatening to revoke ABC’s local station licenses if the broadcasting company did not fire Kimmel over his monologue last Monday.Story continues below this adWhile Carr seems to be enjoying the backing of the US President, who suggested that the FCC chair should go after more channels critical of Trump, he is increasingly being isolated within the Republican Party. Demonstrators picket in response to the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show outside of Walt Disney Studios. (Photo: AP)Republicans up in arms against CarrOn Sunday, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard became the latest Republican to call out Carr’s actions.“Free speech is the foundation of our democratic republic. We must protect it at all costs, because without it, we’ll be lost. Charlie knew this. He lived it,” she told mourners at the slain activist’s memorial in Arizona.Earlier, Republican Senator Rand Paul said that threats by Carr were “absolutely inappropriate.”Story continues below this adPaul said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Carr had “no business weighing in on this.” He said people could be fired for making inappropriate comments but the government should not pressure companies to take action.“The government’s got no business in it. And the FCC was wrong to weigh in. And I’ll fight any attempt by the government to get involved with speech,” Paul said.Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz was the first Republican to speak out against Carr.“I got to say that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas’,” Cruz said on Friday, evoking the Martin Scorsese gangster movie. “That’s right out of a Mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it’.”Story continues below this adCruz, once a close confidant of Trump, said Carr’s comments were “dangerous as hell.” Jimmy Kimmel speakin during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo: AP)Republican Senators Dave McCormick and Todd Young also sided with Cruz on X“Good riddance to Jimmy Kimmel and his disgusting rhetoric. Ted also raises important concerns about the comments of the FCC chairman,” McCormick said.Democratic leaders in Congress have called for Carr to resign and demanded an inspector general’s investigation and public hearings.