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Would the FCC really shut down ABC over Kimmel’s tasteless Trump joke?

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by Jeffrey M. McCall, opinion contributor - 05/06/26 10:00 AM ET

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by Jeffrey M. McCall, opinion contributor - 05/06/26 10:00 AM ET

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Greg Nash and Patrick T. Fallon, AFP via Getty Images

The ABC Television logo is displayed outside a building at The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California on June 2, 2025. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr is seen during an open monthly FCC meeting at their headquarters in Washington on March 26, 2026.

Media executives and progressive politicians are aghast at the recent Federal Communications Commission decision to scrutinize the broadcast licenses of ABC-owned television stations.

Late last month, the FCC ordered ABC’s eight stations to file broadcast license renewal applications ahead of the normal schedule. The order outlines a concern about whether the stations are meeting their “public interest obligations.” Technically, all radio and television broadcast outlets must serve the “public interest, convenience and necessity,” as determined by the FCC and allowed by Congress in the Communications Act of 1934.

Indeed, this action is highly unusual — much more than the “raised eyebrow” approach to broadcast regulation normally implemented by the FCC. The public interest standard has been vague from its inception and loosely enforced or even generally ignored over the years. That the current FCC would engage in such pressure tactics against the Disney empire that owns ABC has shocked and outraged the corporate media world.

There was a time, however, when an FCC chairman went well beyond threatening a relative few television stations for neglecting their public interest responsibilities.

Rewind to 1961, when John Kennedy’s FCC chairman threatened the licenses of every television licensee in the nation. Newton Minow addressed the National Association of Broadcasters that year. He promised the media executives assembled that he would make their jobs difficult, warning, “If you want to stay on as [licensed broadcasters], you must deliver a decent return to the public.”

Minow invoked the public interest standard, threatening, “I did not come to Washington to idly observe the squandering of the public’s airwaves.” He rhetorically asked, “Why is so much of television so bad?” and further shocked the media bigshots by calling television “a vast wasteland.”

Compared to Minow, current FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seems like an overly permissive grandma.

This latest kerfuffle appears to have been sparked by ABC’s late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel and his clumsy attempt at humor when he called first lady Melania Trump “an expectant widow.“ This is the same Kimmel who was briefly suspended last fall for his inartful commentary about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Beyond Kimmel, however, the White House and its top supporter at the FCC have other reasons to be irked with ABC. “The View,” surprisingly a production of ABC News, is a one-sided platform for hosts and guests to insult all things Trump. Then there is George Stephanopoulus, a political partisan who serves as ABC’s morning anchor and weekend public affairs host. It was his on-air comments about Trump’s legal problems that got ABC sued for libel. The network caved and paid a settlement.

For his part, Carr claims the license scrutiny is based on Disney’s potentially illegal diversity, equity and inclusion practices, not on-air content. That might well be true, but the timing certainly looks awkward.

The FCC’s decision has sparked outrage from multiple corners. Free Press, an activist organization that promotes journalistic freedom, called the early license review “unconstitutional“ and an attack on media independence. The National Association of Broadcasters weighed in, calling the FCC’s actions unfair and saying the process would prompt “significant uncertainty for all broadcasters.” Even prominent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) spoke out, warning, “I do not believe the FCC should operate as the speech police.”

These critics are pretty much on track. The FCC can flex its bureaucratic muscle, but all it can really accomplish is to annoy ABC, forcing the corporation to dance a bit and pay its lawyers a lot. Any possible FCC scolding, let alone a license nonrenewal, would immediately be met by lawsuits the FCC would surely lose, both for capriciousness and on First Amendment grounds.

Such lawsuits would likely not reach the Supreme Court. But if that were to happen, the FCC would certainly lose. The Roberts court has proven to be staunch defenders of the First