{"id":2832,"date":"2025-09-20T02:39:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T02:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/20\/ted-cruz-breaks-with-republicans-slams-mafioso-threats-to-broadcasters\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T02:39:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T02:39:05","slug":"ted-cruz-breaks-with-republicans-slams-mafioso-threats-to-broadcasters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/20\/ted-cruz-breaks-with-republicans-slams-mafioso-threats-to-broadcasters\/","title":{"rendered":"Ted Cruz breaks with Republicans, slams \u2018mafioso\u2019 threats to broadcasters"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>The US senator has labelled Carr\u2019s comments \u2018dangerous as hell\u2019 and something \u2018right out of Goodfellas\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>A prominent Republican senator has joined the Democrats in criticising threats made by the government of the United States against Disney and local broadcasters for airing Jimmy Kimmel Live.<\/p>\n<p>Ted Cruz, who leads oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said on Friday that FCC chair Brendan Carr\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/19\/does-jimmy-kimmels-removal-over-charlie-kirk-violate-freedom-of-speech\">threat to take regulatory action<\/a> against networks over the content of their shows sets a dangerous precedent.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/19\/does-jimmy-kimmels-removal-over-charlie-kirk-violate-freedom-of-speech\">Jimmy Kimmel \u2013 has his right to freedom of speech been violated?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/19\/trump-celebrates-kimmel-show-suspension-as-democrats-push-free-speech-bill\">Trump calls for US regulator to clamp down on critical media<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/9\/18\/what-did-jimmy-kimmel-say-about-charlie-kirks-killing\">What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk\u2019s killing?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Speaking on his podcast, Cruz labelled Carr\u2019s comments \u201cdangerous as hell\u201d and something \u201cright out of Goodfellas\u201d, referring to Martin Scorsese\u2019s iconic gangster movie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, \u2018Nice bar you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it\u2019,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n<p>Carr had threatened to fine broadcasters or pull the licences of those who aired Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday, prompting television network ABC \u2013 which is owned by Disney \u2013 to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/18\/abc-to-indefinitely-halt-jimmy-kimmel-live-after-charlie-kirk-remarks\">suspend <\/a>the late-night talk show.<\/p>\n<p>The owners of dozens of local TV stations affiliated with ABC also said they would no longer air the show.<\/p>\n<p>Carr\u2019s threat came in response to the host\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/18\/what-did-jimmy-kimmel-say-about-charlie-kirk-before-abc-pulled-his-show\">opening monologue<\/a> on Monday discussing the murder of Charlie Kirk \u2013 a friend and political ally of the president \u2013 which caused uproar among President Donald Trump\u2019s supporters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,\u201d Kimmel said, speaking of 22-year-old <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/17\/charlie-kirk-shooting-tyler-robinsons-messages-and-charges-against-him\">Tyler Robinson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz\u2019s criticism of Carr marks a rare example of a prominent member of Trump\u2019s own party publicly criticising his administration, highlighting deepening bipartisan concerns over attacks on free speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be threatening government power to force him off air,\u201d Cruz said on his podcast. \u201cIt might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel, but when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, however, said he disagreed with Cruz and called Carr \u201can incredible American patriot with courage\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has himself slammed Kimmel\u2019s Kirk monologue, while he also suggested on Thursday that broadcasters <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/19\/trump-celebrates-kimmel-show-suspension-as-democrats-push-free-speech-bill\">critical of his administration<\/a> should have their FCC-issued licences revoked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a very strong person for free speech,\u201d he told reporters at the Oval Office on Friday, when asked to clarify his earlier comments.<\/p>\n<p>But he continued that broadcasters were so critical of him that they represent an extension of the Democratic Party, something he said was \u201creally illegal\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s no longer free speech \u2026 That\u2019s just cheating, and they cheat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Prominent Democrats and civil rights groups have condemned the Trump administration\u2019s pressure to punish Kimmel and networks that air his show.<\/p>\n<p>Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Carr is \u201cone of the single greatest threats to free speech America has ever known\u201d, as he called for him to\u00a0resign or for Trump to fire him.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Friday also asked the FCC\u2019s inspector general to investigate Carr\u2019s actions and comments.<\/p>\n<p>The future of Jimmy Kimmel Live remains unclear and Kimmel is yet to publicly comment on his suspension.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US senator has labelled Carr\u2019s comments \u2018dangerous as hell\u2019 and something \u2018right out of Goodfellas\u2019. A prominent Republican senator has joined the Democrats in criticising threats made by the government of the United States against Disney and local broadcasters for airing Jimmy Kimmel Live. Ted Cruz, who leads oversight of the Federal Communications Commission &#8230; <a title=\"Ted Cruz breaks with Republicans, slams \u2018mafioso\u2019 threats to broadcasters\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/20\/ted-cruz-breaks-with-republicans-slams-mafioso-threats-to-broadcasters\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Ted Cruz breaks with Republicans, slams \u2018mafioso\u2019 threats to broadcasters\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}