Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz has been in the news a lot lately. He courageously equated FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s “last action hero” threats against ABC to mafia intimidation as depicted in the film Goodfellas. Carr had previously threatened ABC stations’ broadcast licenses. He could pull their licenses if they insist on running programming that offends him.
Most notably, Cruz was the most spirited and passionate Trump-foe during the GOP primary. Today, he boasts of being a fierce defender of that past president. His comments on Carr both embody support for FCC leadership and codify criticism of media practices. In a recent episode of his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz, Cruz voiced his fears about what Carr was saying. He lauded Carr’s actions as “courageous” and Carr himself as a “patriot.”
In his remarks, Cruz quoted Carr saying, “We’re going to cancel ABC’s license. We’re going to take him off the air so ABC cannot broadcast any more.” He further elaborated on Carr’s threats, mentioning, “We can do this the easy way, but we can do this the hard way.” Cruz likened these assertions to a line from Goodfellas, saying, “Nice bar you have here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.”
Cruz has previously taken aim at Jimmy Kimmel, after Kimmel made anti-conservative comments about Cruz’s chillaxin’ in the Bahamas. He already called for Kimmel’s firing over those jokes. He caught himself by adding, “So I’m actually going to disagree with Ted Cruz on that.” Nevertheless, Cruz affirmed, “I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired.”
Cruz then went on to lament the current state of affairs in political discourse. He sees greater dangers to conservatives if Democrats retake power and the federal government can use speech regulation as a weapon. His comments ring true with many media’s bias and lack of accountability concerns in a constantly changing world of political communication.
The senator’s legal background definitely strengthens his position on these issues. Floyd Cruz graduated from Harvard Law School and had previously clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. His deep experience in law and politics informs his understanding of what lies at stake in speech regulation. It affects his views on media consolidation.