Senator Accuses FCC Chair of Launching Investigations Into Every Major Broadcast Network' Except Fox in Tense Exchange

"Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) got into a heated exchange with Federal Communication Commission Chair Brendan Carr, accusing him of selectively targeting certain media broadcasters. Carr appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday for the first time since the brief suspension of late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel by ABC. Carr faced bipartisan backlash in September when he said in a podcast interview that we can do this the easy way or the hard way when it came to Kimmel"

"Klobuchar told Carr that Kimmel was not an isolated incident on Wednesday. You've launched investigations into every major broadcast network except Fox. Is that correct? the senator asked. Carr said he didn't know if that was true, acknowledging there are numerous investigations into media outlets like NPR, PBS, and others. I think if you step back over the years, I think the FCC has walked away from enforcing the public interest standard, and I don't think that's a good thing, he said."

"Klobuchar used the public interest line to then bring up President Donald Trump's Truth Social post about filmmaker Rob Reiner, following Reiner and his wife's being stabbed to death in their home. Reiner was a vocal critic of Trump, and the president suggested in his post that Trump Derangement Syndrome was somehow behind the murder. Klobuchar pressed Carr on whether he would have threatened to take Kimmel off the air had he said exactly what the president did about Reiner."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar confronted FCC Chair Brendan Carr over alleged selective targeting of media broadcasters and multiple investigations. Carr appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee after ABC briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel and after his past podcast remark about handling Kimmel “the easy way or the hard way.” Klobuchar asserted investigations have targeted every major broadcast network except Fox; Carr acknowledged numerous probes into outlets like NPR and PBS and said he was unsure about the specific claim. Klobuchar raised President Trump's Truth Social post about Rob Reiner and asked whether Carr would have threatened to take Kimmel off the air for similar remarks. Carr said he would not police social media and emphasized different public-interest obligations for broadcasters.

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