The White House is now linking comments made by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to what it claims is “dangerous” rhetoric that motivated the shooter who killed conservative commentator and activist Charlie Kirk, despite there being no definitive proof yet of the gunman’s motivations.

According to the Associated Press, the remarks that got Kimmel suspended, amid pressure from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, included:

“The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

The AP also reported that “Kimmel said that Trump’s response ‘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?'”

READ MORE: ‘Insanely Broad’: Bill Would Authorize an ‘Open-Ended’ Trump Narco-Terror War

On Friday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told Newsmax, “I think you’re seeing just a general public response to people like Jimmy Kimmel, who tragically is spewing this dangerous rhetoric, all people who spew this dangerous rhetoric, who ultimately drove this deranged killer to take Charlie’s life.”

“I think it’s a reflection of where the public is right now, having this revival of standing for your belief, standing for our First Amendment rights and and the importance of civil dialogue and the right to speak your mind in this country.”

Kelly also said: “Charlie’s tragic death, also ignited, I think, a spark for young people, for all people in this country who are passionate about free speech, who are passionate about civil dialogue, and also faith. Charlie, of course, was a very outspoken proponent of standing in your faith.”

“It’s no question that the person who, the coward that shot and killed Charlie Kirk, was evil, was tragically driven by a lot of this violent, hateful rhetoric coming from the left,” she added.

READ MORE: ‘Massive Shift’: FCC Chair Says Local TV Will ‘Decide What the American People Think’

Critics blasted Kelly’s remarks.

“The Deputy Press Secretary’s remarks are dripping with hypocrisy,” wrote The Steady State, a group of more than 300 former national security officials. “On one hand, she invokes the First Amendment and the importance of civil dialogue. On the other, she scapegoats Jimmy Kimmel’s comedy as ‘dangerous rhetoric’ that somehow caused a murder? This is the antithesis of free speech.”

“The First Amendment doesn’t exist to protect speech the government likes — it exists precisely to protect speech that offends, critiques, or challenges those in power,” the group added. “By blaming a critic’s words for violence, while celebrating an ally’s words as virtuous, the administration is not defending free speech at all. It’s weaponizing it.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly says “you’re seeing just a general public response to people like Jimmy Kimmel who tragically is spewing this dangerous rhetoric, all people who spew this dangerous rhetoric who ultimately drove this deranged killer to take Charlie’s… pic.twitter.com/MoMgPMn1ju

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 19, 2025

READ MORE: Trump Labels Flag Burning, Organized Protests ‘Incitement to Riot’

Draft legislation is reportedly circulating at the White House and on Capitol Hill that would codify into law actions similar to those that President Donald Trump has already taken against what his administration claims were narco-terrorists aboard drug-smuggling boats bound for the United States. The measure would grant the Commander in Chief broad authority to wage war against any entity — including foreign governments — suspected of ties to “narco-terrorism.”

The New York Times reports the legislation “would hand President Trump sweeping power to wage war against drug cartels he deems to be ‘terrorists,’ as well as against any nation he says has harbored or aided them, according to people familiar with the matter.”

The legislation has set off alarm bells inside some parts of the White House and Congress.

Some legal experts have deemed Trump’s use of the military to attack two vessels illegal, but the administration says the U.S. Constitution allows the President to take such actions.

READ MORE: ‘Massive Shift’: FCC Chair Says Local TV Will ‘Decide What the American People Think’

“Critics have also said that Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have given illegal orders, causing Special Operations troops to target civilians — even if they are suspected of crimes — in apparent violation of laws against murder.”

The bill would “raise the question of whether Congress was effectively giving Mr. Trump the authority to wage a regime-change war in Venezuela.”

Harvard Law School Professor Jack Goldsmith, a former Bush DOJ official, told the Times the legislation is “insanely broad.”

READ MORE: Trump Labels Flag Burning, Organized Protests ‘Incitement to Riot’

“This is an open-ended war authorization against an untold number of countries, organizations and persons that the president could deem within its scope,” Professor Goldsmith said. He also noted it could violate international law.

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the “White House has depicted [drug] smugglers as terrorists similar to members of al Qaeda and Islamic State who should be neutralized by military force.”

“Trump, who campaigned on avoiding foreign wars, is framing the campaign as homeland defense rather than another open-ended overseas conflict,” the paper reported.

Also this week, President Trump announced that he is designating Antifa a “major terrorist organization.”

Some experts say he lacks the authority to do so and will struggle to enforce such a move—while others warn it could give him sweeping license to target groups or individuals he disfavors.

READ MORE: ‘Corrupt Abuse of Power’: Dems Rip FCC Chair Over Kimmel Suspension

Image via Reuters 

Explaining the “massive shift” he intends to impose on the focus of the Federal Communications Commission, Chairman Brendan Carr announced that he will take America back to the era when local television stations shaped what the American people “think.”

“So again,” Carr told Fox News on Thursday, “we’re going back to that era when local TV stations, judging the public interest, get to decide what the American people think.”

“And again, we’re constraining the power through those actions of Disney, of Comcast. And I think the American public can be much better off. But, yeah, I don’t think this is the last shoe to drop,” he said, appearing to refer to the suspension of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.

READ MORE: Trump Labels Flag Burning, Organized Protests ‘Incitement to Riot’

“This is a massive shift that’s taking place in the media ecosystem, and I think the consequences are going to  continue to flow,” he declared.

On Thursday, speaking aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump wrongly suggested that broadcast networks, licensed by the FCC, are “not allowed” to criticize him.

“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 one in years, or something — when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that,” Trump said.

Carr is one of the authors of The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. President Donald Trump praised Carr as “a warrior for Free Speech,” CBS News reported last year.

There are few “local” television stations left in the U.S., in the sense that nearly all are owned by several major broadcast conglomerates, including Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Gray Television, Tegna, Hearst, and Scripps.

Carr: We’re going to back to that era where local TV stations, judging the public interest, get to decide what the American people think…

I don’t think this is the last shoe to drop… the consequences will continue to flow. pic.twitter.com/UFErQ9ealK

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 18, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Corrupt Abuse of Power’: Dems Rip FCC Chair Over Kimmel Suspension

Image via Reuters