A former Trump administration lawyer compared ABC dropping Jimmy Kimmel following pressure from the FCC to media censorship in Nazi Germany.
Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney who served on President Trump’s legal team during his first term, made the jarring comparison while reflecting on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ being pulled from the air with NBC’s Kristen Welker.
‘It’s evocative of what we’ve seen throughout history,’ he said, offering his response to Kimmel being penalized for divisive remarks he made on conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.
‘I mean, in 1939, Dr [Joseph] Goebbels, at Hitler’s instruction, removed five comedians, or witticists as they were called at the time, from the airwaves in Germany, for criticizing or making fun of the government in a satire way,’ he said.
Goebbels was the minister of propaganda for the German Third Reich under Adolf Hitler.
Cobb, who was on Trump’s legal team from July 2017 until May 2018, also drew a comparison to Vladimir Putin’s takeover of Russia in the early 2000s, when he ‘systematically silenced political media outlets’ that did not align with his agenda.
‘Trump is waging war on people who offend him,’ Cobb bluntly asserted. ‘He’s all about vengeance.
‘Sadly, his subordinates, like one of the Project 2025 authors, Brandon Carr of the FCC, are following in line.
Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney who served on President Trump’s legal team during his first term, made the jarring comparison while reflecting on ‘ Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ being pulled from the air
The former Trump administration lawyer compared ABC dropping Jimmy Kimmel (pictured) following pressure from the FCC to media censorship in Nazi Germany
‘These people are abandoning our constitutional rights and our constitutional freedoms.’
Cobb’s concern comes as Kimmel’s indefinite suspension from ABC and its affiliates has sparked a national uproar regarding free speech in the wake of Kirk’s murder.
Following the death of Kirk, Kimmel discussed the suspect, Tyler Robinson, and Trump’s reaction to the assassination during his Monday night monologue.
‘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.
Kimmel went on to criticize Trump’s statement about Kirk’s death.
‘This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay?’
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr later threatened to investigate him and ABC while appearing on Benny Johnson’s podcast.
‘When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible,’ Carr told Johnson.
Goebbels, seen here, was the minister of propaganda for the German Third Reich under Adolf Hitler
The death of Kirk (pictured with his wife Erika and two children) sparked a national debate on what constitutes free speech
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr later threatened to investigate him and ABC while appearing on Benny Johnson’s podcast.
‘When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible,’ Carr told Johnson.
‘As you’ve indicated, there are avenues here for the FCC, so there… are some ways in which I need to be a little bit careful because we could be called ultimately to be a judge on some of these claims that come up,’ Carr said.
Murder suspect Tyler Robinson (pictured) is believed to have held left-wing ideologies
Since FCC went after Kimmel and he was subsequently pulled from the air, Trump has been vocal about his intentions to penalize late-night hosts who speak negatively of him.
‘They give me only bad press,’ he said on Air Force One as he boarded a flight in the UK back to America after a state visit, claiming that 97 percent of this kind of programming bashes him.
‘I would think maybe their licenses should be taken away,’ Trump said.
Days prior, Trump told reporters he may ‘go after’ journalists who challenge him.
‘Because you treat me so unfairly…so maybe we’ll have to go after you,’ Trump told a reporter, while discussing who Attorney General Pam Bondi may target while tackling ‘hate speech.’
He also hinted at pulling the broadcast licenses from network affiliates that aired Kimmel’s show.
Cobb is not the only one with a drab outlook on America’s political future, especially regarding free speech and the FCC’s threats.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr (pictured) threatened to investigate Kimmel and ABC after he shared divisive sentiments regarding the September 10 political assassination
Donald Trump (pictured) told reporters he may ‘ go after’ journalists who challenge him
Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro told NBC he felt ‘fear’ upon learning Kimmel, an ABC veteran of 22 years, was pulled from the air.
He said that seeing the principle of freedom of speech being ‘undermined by the long arm of the federal government is extremely dangerous.
‘Whether you agree with Jimmy Kimmel or not, whether you found him funny or not, to fire someone cause he told a joke about the president…that is dangerous.’
Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the chairman of the Senate committee overseeing the FCC, has also denounced Kimmel’s cancellation.
‘I think it is unbelievably dangerous for the government to put itself in the position of saying, “We’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying,”‘ Cruz said during his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz, on Friday.
‘And it might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel, but when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it.
‘I like Brendan Carr, but we should not be in this business…We shouldn’t be threatening government power to force him off air. That’s a real mistake.’
