WASHINGTON ‒ President Donald Trump said overwhelming negative coverage of him by television networks should be grounds for the Federal Communications Commission to revoke broadcast licenses.

Trump made the suggestion as he defended FCC chairman Brendan Carr for pressuring ABC to pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show off the airwaves over comments Kimmel made regarding the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel was suspended indefinitely.

“They're 97% against ‒ they give me only bad publicity or press," Trump claimed in a Sept. 18 gaggle with reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew back to the United States from the United Kingdom. "I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr.”

ABC's suspension of Kimmel’s show – combined with threats from Trump officials to “go after” left-leaning organizations they say have incited violence – has alarmed Democrats and First Amendment advocates over free speech concerns in the wake of Kirk’s fatal shooting. Kimmel is a longtime Trump critic.

National television networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are not granted licenses by the FCC. Instead, the FCC issues licenses to individual local broadcast affiliates authorizing the stations to use public airwaves.

Trump said a network's treatment of him should also be considered when the FCC issues and renews licenses.

“Look, that’s something that should be talked about for licensing, too," Trump told reporters. "When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump ‒ that’s all they do. If you go back, I guess they haven't had a conservative on in years, somebody said."

"They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that," Trump said, alleging, "They're an arm of the Democrat Party."

Historically, the FCC has operated as an independent agency of the executive branch, but Carr has aligned himself closely to Trump, who appointed him to the role.

"I think Brendan Carr is doing a great job, and I think he's a great patriot," Trump said.

Trump has cheered ABC's cancellation of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Addressing reporters earlier in the United Kingdom, Trump rejected concerns raised by his critics about the state of free speech. Trump said, "Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings, more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk."

Kimmel's ratings are second among late-night hosts after CBS's Stephen Colbert.

Trump in July previously celebrated the cancellation of CBS' "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," also a Trump critic, and warned, "I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert."

ABC pulled "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" off air on Sept. 17 shortly after Nexstar Media Group said it would stop airing the show on its 32 ABC affiliates because of "offensive and insensitive" remarks Kimmel made about Kirk, who was shot and killed Sept. 10 by an assassin.

Before the decisions were announced, FCC chairman Brendan Carr threatened to take action against ABC and its local affiliates if it continued to air Kimmel’s television show. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr said in an appearance on conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast.

The comment from Kimmel that apparently attracted scrutiny from the FCC's Carr came during an opening monologue during the comedian’s Monday, Sept. 15, show.

"We 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 other than one of them," Kimmel said, which some have interpreted as the comedian falsely alleging that the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was a MAGA Trump supporter.

Two weeks before Kirk's assassination, Trump made similar threats against television networks because of what he deems unfair coverage.

In an Aug. 24 post on Truth Social, Trump said ABC and NBC "should lose their Licenses for their unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives, but at a minimum, they should pay up BIG for having the privilege of using the most valuable airwaves anywhere at anytime!!!"

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump suggests FCC should consider revoking TV licenses over negative coverage of him

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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