Trump Cracks Down on Media, National Parks

Hasan Kwame Jeffries, professor at Ohio State University, discusses the political and historic context as the Trump administration tests its authority and cracks down on members of the media and depictions of slavery in national parks.

Democratic lawmakers ratcheted up their criticism of Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr after he successfully pressured Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network to pull late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show this week.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday said Carr is “bullying” companies into censoring speech that is unfavorable to President Donald Trump. Democrats have called for his resignation and pledged to investigate his tenure at the helm of the FCC in the days following Kimmel’s show’s indefinite suspension.

“Carr is one of the single greatest threats to free speech America has ever known,” Schumer said at a press conference outside the Capitol. “He must resign, and Republicans should call for his firing immediately.”

ABC’s sudden decision to take the Jimmy Kimmel Live! program off the air on Wednesday over comments the host made about the killing of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk came just hours after Carr berated Kimmel on a podcast and suggested that the regulatory agency could take action against ABC.

Carr has since asserted his pressure did not influence Disney’s decision to pull Kimmel but he has suggested that more is to come.

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