That Donald Trump does not like to be joked with is nothing new. Nor is it true that, in that case, it charges against whoever does it. But now his Government is taking another step against one of its main public enemies: Jimmy Kimmel. The host’s joke about Melania Trump on his show last Friday, where he called her a “widow in waiting”and issued just 24 hours before the shooting that took place at the correspondents’ dinner of Washington, has been so disliked by the president and his wife that not only have they asked for his resignation, but the competent authority is now going to review the broadcasting licenses of Disney, owner of the ABC network, where Kimmel’s program is broadcast.
In the Web page From the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), this request to review the licenses already appears. “The Media Office directs The Walt Disney Company, American Broadcasting Company and their television affiliates to submit advance license renewal applications for their television stations,” it reads. Various media such as cnn and Reuters They already announced that they are actually going to review the broadcast licenses of their associated chains in advance, so much so that they intend to start this Tuesday. Disney has not made any statements regarding this at the moment.
He head of said agency, Brendan Carr, very close to President Trump, already told Reuters in mid-March that they were willing to accelerate said review process. “You can make early renewals,” Carr assured, explaining that he had investigations underway on most of the large national networks, such as ABC, NBC and the public PBS. He stated that the question of being able to revoke licenses following such investigations was “on the table.” On Fox News, Carr hinted that ABC and Disney could lose that license: “If the evidence confirms that they did indeed engage in discrimination based on race and gender, it would be a very serious matter for the FCC, and could call into question their moral qualifications to even hold a license.”
On several occasions, Carr has toyed with the idea of revoking licenses based on networks’ content. In fact, the issue was put on the table last September, when the Jimmy Kimmel was suspended for 10 days for a joke that host performed after the murder of Republican activist Charlie Kirk.
In the FCC there is only one representative of the Democratic Party, Anna Gomez, who has stated in her X profile that this early review and possible revocation of licenses is something that is “unprecedented, illegal and will lead nowhere.” “This political maneuver will not succeed. Companies should stand up to it. The First Amendment is on their side,” Gomez said. Already last September, Gomez was very clear, releasing a statement in which she stated that the FCC “does not have the authority, ability or constitutional right to control content or to sanction broadcasters for expressions that are not to the liking of the Government.” “Freedom of expression is the pillar of our democracy, and we must oppose any attempt to undermine it,” he said.
Broadcast licenses are highly protected by law, but the FCC may have the final say. In the event of a revocation, and if ABC could not broadcast its spaces, it would greatly affect advertising revenue, but it would also be a direct confrontation with the US Constitution and its first amendment, which protects freedom of expression, ratified in December 1791. And it would put it back in the spotlight. How the current administration is willing to take far-reaching measures for, simply, a humorous monologue against him.
Specifically, Kimmel’s photo from April 23 showed him as if he were giving a speech at the correspondents’ dinner (which took place the next day), with images also showing Melania and Barron, the president’s wife and son. “Here is our first lady, Melania; look at her, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, she has a glow like an expectant widow,” he intended to tell her. The phrase had a double meaning, because expectant in English not only means waiting, attentive, but also waiting for a baby, being pregnant.
Faced with the angry responses of the first lady and the president, who called for the resignation and the cessation of his program, Kimmel responded with his usual humor on Monday night. “You know when you wake up in the morning and the first lady publishes a statement asking you to be fired? We’ve all experienced it, right?” he joked when starting his nighttime slot. Later, he clarified: “It was obviously a joke about their age difference, and the joy on their faces every time they are together. It was a very light joke about the fact that he is almost 80 and she is younger than me (Jimmy Kimmel is 58 years old; Melania Trump, 56). It was not, under any circumstances, an incitement to murder, and you know it. For many years I have been very direct against weapons,” he assured.
“I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience this weekend, and probably every weekend is stressful in that house,” the presenter continued, stretching the joke and at the same time the explanation. “Also, I agree that there is some violent rhetoric that we have to reject. I think the way to start is to have a conversation with your husband. Donald Trump can say whatever he wants, as you can and I can. Because under the first amendment we have, as Americans, the right to free speech.”
