Carlson accuses Trump administration of using Kirk killing to attack First Amendment rights

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson alleged the Trump administration is using the reported killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk to attack First Amendment rights. In a special episode of The Tucker Carlson Show titled 'America After Kirk,' Carlson described Kirk as a 'free speech champion' and said he hoped his murder would not be used as leverage to push hate-speech laws. 'There is never a more justified moment for civil disobedience than that, ever. And there never will be.' 'Because if they can tell you what to say, they're telling you what to think,' he said. 'There is nothing they can't do to you because they don't consider you human.' 'A human being with a soul has the right to say what he believes, not to hurt other people, but to express his views,' the podcaster declared.

Carlson did not name President Donald Trump in his remarks but leveled criticism at Attorney General Pam Bondi for remarks the day before in which the Department of Justice said it 'will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.' Carlson argued Kirk would have objected to such statements, saying Bondi 'didn't think it through and was not attempting to desecrate the memory of the person she was purporting to celebrate.' 'This is the Attorney General of the United States, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, telling you that there is this other category called 'hate speech,' ' Carlson noted. 'And of course, the implication is that's a crime. There's no sentence that Charlie Kirk would have objected to more than that,' he continued, calling a society with hate crime laws 'the opposite of what he worked to build.'

Carlson's remarks came as executives at ABC announced they were suspending late-night host Jimmy Kimmel's show indefinitely over remarks he made about Kirk's alleged assassin. During his monologue on Monday, the 57-year-old comedian falsely claimed Tyler Robinson, 22, was a conservative. He said that the United States 'hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.' However, investigators have laid out how the alleged gunman became radicalized with far-left ideologies and was dating his transgender roommate.

Carlson specifically took aim at US Attorney General Pam Bondi for declaring that the Department of Justice 'will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.' Carlson said Kirk would have 'objected' to such remarks. Kimmel then went on to criticize President Trump's statement about Kirk's death. 'This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?' The comedian also tore into FBI Director Kash Patel, accusing him of mishandling the investigation into the shooting at Utah Valley University. 'Like a kid who didn't read the book, BS'ing his way through an oral report.' By Tuesday night, Kimmel doubled down, ridiculing Vice President JD Vance, who had guest-hosted Kirk's podcast in the aftermath of the murder. 'Trump is fanning the flames,' Kimmel said, 'by attacking people on the left. 'Which is it - are they a bunch of sissy pickleball players because they're too scared to be hit by tennis balls, or a well-organized deadly team of commandos? Because they can't be both of those things,' he said.

Kimmel's commentary triggered outrage, with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announcing that he was considering an investigation into Kimmel and ABC. 'When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible,' Carr told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson hours before Kimmel's ouster was revealed. ABC executives ultimately took emergency action, announcing that Kimmel's show would be 'preempted indefinitely.' Staff of the Jimmy Kimmel Show! were then seen packing up their gear from the Los Angeles studio. Following the news of the cancellation, Carr told Fox News that the talk show host was simply 'suffering the consequences' of his actions. He accused the networks of subsidizing late night talk shows, and said that the FCC expects them 'to broadly serve the public interests.' The Daily Mail has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.

Following the news of the cancellation, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said the networks must serve the public interest. President Trump then echoed that sentiment on Thursday as he suggested networks may lose their broadcasting licenses if their on-air talent is critical of him. 'They're giving me all this bad press and they're getting a license,' Trump said. 'I would think maybe their license should be taken away.' 'When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that's all they do - that license, they're not allowed to do that,' he continued, calling the broadcast network 'an arm of the Democrat Party.' Broadcast television stations affiliated with networks like ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox must receive a license from the FCC to operate because their content is transmitted over the air and is technically free for viewers. This differs from cable networks, in which subscribers pay fee to distributors to watch. Trump admitted in his remarks Thursday that the decision to revoke broadcast licenses would ultimately have to be made by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, whom he called 'outstanding' and a 'patriot.' 'He loves our country and he's a tough guy,' Trump said of his FCC chair. 'So we'll have to see.'