WASHINGTON ‒ U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz slammed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr for pressuring ABC to pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the airwaves, warning fellow Republicans the threats create an "unbelievably dangerous" precedent that could haunt conservatives.

The Texas Republican, in a new episode of his podcast released Sept. 19, compared Carr's tactics to those of a mob boss as he denounced the FCC chairman's threats to revoke ABC's television license before the network indefinitely suspended "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

"He says, 'We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way,'" Cruz said, referring to Carr. "That's right out of 'Goodfellas.' That's right out a mafioso coming into a bar going, 'Nice bar you have here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.'"

Cruz is among the highest-profile Republicans to speak out against Carr's threats to ABC over comments Kimmel made regarding the recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Shortly before ABC suspended Kimmel's show, Carr threatened to revoke licenses for ABC and its local affiliates if it continued to air the show. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr said in an appearance on conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast.

"What he said there is dangerous as hell," Cruz said after playing audio of Carr's remarks.

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

Cruz made clear he is not a fan of Kimmel and disapproves of Kimmel's remarks regarding the Kirk assassination. But he said the government should not be able to dictate what is appropriate for public airwaves.

"I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we're going to decide what speech we like and what we don't, and we're going to threaten to take you off the air if we don't like what you're saying," Cruz said.

Cruz said a Democrat down the road will be in the White House once again, warning, "They will silence us. They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly.

"It might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel, but when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it."

Trump has cheered ABC for suspending Kimmel's show and rejected concerns about the infringement of free speech raised by Democrats and other Trump critics. Trump has also defended Carr. "I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He's a patriot. He loves our country, and he's a tough guy," Trump told reporters on Sept. 18.

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

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

Reach Joey Garrison @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Right out of Goodfellas.' Ted Cruz weighs in on FCC head's Kimmel threat

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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