Posted 36 minutes agoSubscribe to Screen Time NewsletterCaret DownTed Cruz, Of All People, Shared His 1 Huge Issue With Jimmy Kimmel's SuspensionThe Texas senator still made it clear he and Jimmy Kimmel are not exactly friends.by Sara BoboltzHuffPost WriterFacebookPinterestLinkHot Topic🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Politics Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Friday that the Trump administration's vindictive way of dealing with late night host Jimmy Kimmel was "right out of Goodfellas," the iconic mob movie, and that it set a dangerous precedent. The Washington Post / Getty Images President Donald Trump has been railing against Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the host made comments about controversial right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed last week in Utah. Kimmel's show was subsequently suspended indefinitely. Zzhollywood To You / Getty Images The president even said aboard Air Force One that "evening shows" are "not allowed" to criticize him, and suggested he had the power to go after their licenses if they did not obey. Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images Cruz recapped the situation on his podcast, Verdict With Ted Cruz.
Significant comments from Republican Sen. @TedCruz on @BrendanCarrFCC's threat to ABC. "That's right out of Goodfellas. That's right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going 'Nice bar you have here, it'd be a shame if something happened to it.'"Cruz does the accent: pic.twitter.com/5u0jWiv6Uf- Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 19, 2025 @sahilkapur/X/Verdict / Via x.com BuzzFeed TrendingHot TopicLet's chat about all things PoliticsSee our Politics Discussions "So, the Federal Communications Commission is in charge of granting broadcast licenses. So ABC, NBC, CBS, they have licenses from the FCC," he said. The Austin American-statesman / Getty Images "It is true that, under statute, they are required to be in the public interest. What he is saying is that Jimmy Kimmel was lying. That's true, he was lying. And his lying to the American people is not in the public interest and so he threatens, explicitly, we're going to cancel ABC's license. We're going to take them off the air so ABC cannot broadcast anymore," Cruz said, referencing FCC Chair Brendan Carr. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Carr went on a right-wing podcast this week where he threatened stations that aired Kimmel after the comedian suggested Republicans were using Kirk's death to score "political points," and that the accused killer, Tyler Robinson, might have been right-wing himself. The day after Kimmel made the comments, authorities released information that muddled the picture of Robinson's politics. John Mcdonnell / Getty Images Affecting an Italian mobster accent, Cruz went on: "[Carr] says, 'We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way.'" Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images "And I gotta say that's right out of Goodfellas," the senator said. "That's right out of a mafioso going into a bar and saying, 'Nice bar you got here. It'd be a shame if something happened to it.'" Brandon Bell / Getty Images Authorities released text messages allegedly sent between Robinson and a romantic partner, whom they identified as transgender. Robinson allegedly said that he had the opportunity to shoot Kirk at an open-air college campus event some 250 miles away and was going to take it because he was tired of Kirk's "hate." Handout / Getty Images While Cruz made it clear that he was no fan of Kimmel's, he went on to say that booting him from the airwaves set a dangerous precedent, as it could open the door for Democrats to go after conservative broadcasters who have helped to push Trump's lies in the past. Brandon Bell / Getty Images "Jimmy Kimmel has mocked me so many times I cannot count," Cruz said. "I am thrilled that he is fired." Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images "Going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again. They will silence us," he added. "They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly, and that is dangerous." Tierney L. Cross / Getty Images ABC's decision to suspend Kimmel's show was accompanied by pledges from big corporations that own local broadcasters to air other content in its place, if production continued. Michael Loccisano / Getty Images The move has been widely condemned as an affront to free speech, a bedrock constitutional right. Kimmel is reportedly expected to sit down with ABC executives to discuss his future in the coming days. Randy Holmes / Getty Images This article originally appeared on HuffPost.