Ted Cruz Becomes Unlikely Ally of Jimmy Kimmel and “The View” After Slamming FCC as 'Speech Police'
Ted Cruz Becomes Unlikely Ally of Jimmy Kimmel and “The View” After Slamming FCC as 'Speech Police'
Joseph KonigThu, April 30, 2026 at 8:16 PM UTC
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Sen. Ted Cruz in November 2023; and Jimmy Kimmel in May 2025Credit: Santiago Felipe/Getty; Robin L Marshall/Getty -
Sen. Ted Cruz became an unlikely voice to defend Jimmy Kimmel against Donald Trump's demands that the late-night show host be fired
Cruz also denounced a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) probe into Disney
“It is not government's job to censor speech, and I do not believe the FCC should operate as the speech police,” the politician said
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican typically closely aligned with Donald Trump, defended Jimmy Kimmel against the president's demands that the late-night show host be fired. He also denounced a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) probe into Disney.
After unsuccessfully urging ABC's parent company Disney to fire Kimmel, 58, last year, Trump, 79, renewed those demands on Monday, April 27, over jokes the comedian made at first lady Melania Trump's expense on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Then, one day later, on April 28, FCC chair Brendan Carr launched a review of ABC's broadcast licenses based on allegations that Disney's diversity programs run afoul of federal law and that The View violated the equal-time rule for political candidates.
“It is not government's job to censor speech, and I do not believe the FCC should operate as the speech police,” Cruz, 55, told Punchbowl News on Tuesday.
The hosts of 'The View' with guest Robin Wright (middle) on Sept. 16, 2025Credit: Lou Rocco/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. via Getty
On April 23, ahead of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Kimmel aired a mock roast of Trump on his show, including a joke about the first lady being an “expectant widow.” After a gunman attempted to storm the event on April 25, the first lady issued a rare public rebuke of Kimmel and the president demanded he be fired.
"Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC," Trump posted to Truth Social on April 27, slamming Kimmel for showing "a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, like they were actually sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they weren’t, and never would be. He then stated, 'Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.' "
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host subsequently defended the joke as "obvious" and "a very light roast" referencing the president's age compared to Melania, who turned 56 on April 26. Kimmel also noted that Trump later made a similar joke about "his own death" at an event with King Charles on April 28.
Ted Cruz and Jimmy Kimmel playing basketball on June 16, 2018Credit: Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
"Wait a minute," Kimmel said on his late-night show later that day. "Did he just make a joke about his death? My god, you should be fired for that. Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age, and then a day later, go out and make a joke about his own old age."
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Cruz, who has become a close ally of the president's in the Senate since losing to him in the 2016 primary, has defended Kimmel from the administration and the FCC before.
In September 2025, Kimmel was briefly removed from the air after comments he made about right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk in the wake of his murder. At the time, Cruz said that, while he “hates what Kimmel said,” Carr, 47, and the FCC sounded like a “mafioso” when they threatened ABC's broadcast licenses.
Brendan Carr with Donald Trump in Brownsville, Texas on Nov. 19, 2024Credit: Brandon Bell/Getty
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“That will end up bad for conservatives,” Cruz said, according to Variety. “There will come a time when a Democrat wins again, wins the White House. They will get rid of everything America that's conservative. They'll get rid of every podcast. They'll get rid of everything. They will silence us.”
“They will use this power and they will use it ruthlessly and that is dangerous,” the Texas Republican added.
Carr said on The Katie Miller Podcast on Tuesday that “hopefully” broadcasters are scared of him as the traditionally independent agency goes after the president's enemies.
“I'd be surprised if we ultimately don't go down the path of license revocation for some, but it will be up to them and their own conduct,” he said. “These national programmers running out of New York and Hollywood are effectively using local TV stations as their own mouthpieces to push this New York and Hollywood foie gras all across the country.”
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
