1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

Dear Members of Congress, Tonight, Jimmy Kimmel announced that his planned interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico will not air on ABC. Instead it will be posted on YouTube — because Trump's FCC has threatened Kimmel, his show, ABC, its affiliates, and local stations over what Kimmel himself called "simple, traditional editorial decisions." This is not the first time. Last year, FCC Chair Brendan Carr forced Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air for an entire week. In February, CBS lawyers barred Stephen Colbert from airing his own Talarico interview — which he moved to YouTube, where it got 9.5 million views and raised $2.5 million for Talarico in 24 hours. Same candidate. Same FCC. Same censorship. Third time. Jimmy Kimmel noted tonight that Donald Trump appeared on his show twice before he was elected — eagerly, willingly, repeatedly. "But for some reason," Kimmel said, "something has changed." We can tell you what changed. He won. And now the FCC is his. FCC Chair Brendan Carr has opened investigations into ABC, CBS, and NBC. Disney and ABC sued the FCC in August calling its license review an "existential threat" to press freedom. The agency that is supposed to serve the public interest is being used as a weapon to silence a candidate running against a Trump ally — nine weeks before the midterm elections. Rep. Ted Lieu said it plainly: "Bending the knee to an authoritarian administration only makes things worse." He is right. And every member of Congress who stays silent while the FCC silences journalists, suspends talk show hosts, and buries Senate candidates from broadcast television is bending the knee right alongside ABC. We demand that Congress hold emergency hearings on FCC Chair Brendan Carr's weaponization of broadcast regulation, pass legislation explicitly prohibiting politically motivated license reviews, and speak publicly and without equivocation: the First Amendment does not end where Donald Trump's feelings begin. The audience booed tonight when Kimmel made his announcement. Congress should be on its feet. Respectfully — and with fury,