President Donald Trump suggested that networks critical of him could have their broadcasting license revoked.
"I read someplace that the networks were 97% against me, again 97% negative, and yet I won easily," President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday. "I won all seven swing states, popular vote, won everything. And, if they're 97% against, they only give you bad publicity or press, I mean, they're getting a license, I would think maybe their license should be taken away."
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President Trump's comments come amid the fallout from ABC's decision to indefinitely pull "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
The show was pulled after Kimmel criticized the president's response to the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Earlier this week, Kimmel played a clip of the president answering a reporter’s question about how he was holding up.
"I think very good," President Trump told the reporter. "And by the way, right there, you see all the trucks. They just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House, which is something they've been trying to get, as you know, for about 150 years, and it's going to be a beauty."
Kimmel then made a sarcastic remark about the president and grief.
"Yes, he's at the fourth stage of grief — construction. Demolition, construction. 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."
By Wednesday afternoon, Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr was threatening to take action.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead," Carr said on The Benny Show, a podcast hosted by conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
Within hours, two local media companies — Nexstar and Sinclair — announced they would not air Kimmel's show on their ABC-affiliated stations. Statements from the companies called his comments offensive, inappropriate and insensitive.
Facing the loss of distribution and the criticism, ABC followed suit, pre-empting Kimmel's show on all ABC stations indefinitely.
