Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions.
So much for being free-speech warriors.
GOP lawmakers have applauded ABC's decision on Wednesday to indefinitely suspend comedian Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show, which came after a top Trump administration official threatened the media company over Kimmel’s mild remarks about murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel's ouster is an affront to free speech. And Republicans—many of whom have claimed to be champions of free speech and detractors of so-called cancel culture—showed they are nothing but shameless hypocrites when that culture claims someone they don't like.
"Maybe lying about a deranged left-wing murderer wasn’t a good career move?" Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said of Kimmel’s show being pulled.
Of course, just a few weeks ago Cruz introduced a bill to ban social media companies from having terms of use policies that he claimed “silence customers and deny them access to essential business technologies over their political beliefs.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, shown in January.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, made an even more absurd comment when he applauded ABC's decision because Kimmel was mean to his best buddy, President Donald Trump, who has long hated Kimmel.
"Political activism under the guise of comedy is not very effective nor is it funny. The desire to destroy Trump took over the desire to entertain. Hopefully the next person will be tough on everyone—and actually funny," Graham wrote in a post on X.
Yes, this is the same Lindsey Graham who, in 2021, said he’d “go to war” to defend restaurant chain Chick-fil-A against cancel culture.
Other Republicans tried to claim ABC's decision to indefinitely suspend Kimmel's show was just a business move and had nothing to do with pressure from the federal government—an absurd claim as the chair of the Federal Communications Commission explicitly threatened ABC if they didn't punish Kimmel.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr said on Wednesday, shortly before ABC announced Kimmel’s suspension, that ABC “can do this the easy way or the hard way,” saying that if they didn't remove Kimmel "there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
"Ask anyone who runs a good business: you must know how to hire right, and fire right. Say anything you want. That's your right. Doesn't mean an employer has to keep signing your paycheck," Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who lies for Dear Leader on the regular, wrote in a post on X.
Some Republicans merely lied about what Kimmel said in order to justify government intrusion on free speech.
Jimmy Kimmel poses during the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 7 in Los Angeles.
"When you can't help joking about the murder of a human being, you don't deserve an audience, let alone one of millions," Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, wrote in a post on X.
Kimmel, however, did not joke about Kirk's death. Rather, he said Republicans were trying to use Kirk's death to score political points against Democrats, which is absolutely true. Since Kirk’s murder, Republicans have been using it to squelch Democratic opposition.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
And at least one said that she simply doesn’t care to follow the First Amendment anymore.
"Under normal times, in normal circumstances, I tend to think that the First Amendment should always be sort of the ultimate right... I don't feel that way anymore,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) told Semafor.
While Republicans cheer ABC’s capitulation to the Trump administration’s demands, Democrats are taking action.
A group of congressional Democrats held a news conference on Thursday to announce that they will be introducing the "No Political Enemies Act”—which, according to the co-sponsors, would “protect individuals and organizations, including nonprofits, faith groups, media outlets, and educational institutions, from politically motivated targeting and prosecution by the federal government.”
“We aren't going to lie down as Trump tries to destroy free speech in this country,” Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut and one of the sponsors of the bill, said at the news conference.
