Fox Host Rips Trump's Remarks on Jimmy Kimmel: Like Something Putin Would Say'

"If you make your living in this world through wordswritten word, the said word, the spoken wordtoday or last night might cause you to think differently about where we are, Ford began, referring to the free speech crackdown following Charlie Kirk's horrific killing. Kimmel was suspended after Trump's FCC chairman threatened ABC over a recent monologue from Kimmel on Kirk's alleged shooter. I watched the president today, and I give the president the benefit of the doubt on a lot of things."

"He says, They're 97% against. They give me only bad press. He was talking about the broadcast news. People get public licenses. They're getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It would be up to Brendan Carr. Now, if you didn't tell me who said that, I would never think that quote was an American presidentDemocrat, Republican, whatever. I would think that sounds like something Putin would say."

"Number two: is SNL next? The president, in his quote last night, said that NBC ought to be on notice as well. And Saturday Night Live has done some of the great skits. I love that first part of it where they take on the political news of the day. I remember how much they took on Clinton. I was in Congress at the time. I had to think Clinton was probably upset. I laughed about some of the things."

Harold Ford Jr. sharply criticized the Trump administration for pressuring regulators after the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel following a monologue about Charlie Kirk's alleged shooter. Ford warned that threats from the FCC chairman and presidential comments about broadcasting licenses represent a free speech crackdown. He characterized Trump's remarks about revoking licenses as authoritarian, comparing them to Putin, Orban, and North Korea. Ford questioned whether NBC and Saturday Night Live could be targeted next and recalled SNL's long history of satirizing presidents. He expressed concern that public-license threats undermine press freedom and democratic norms.

Read at www.mediaite.com