Sen. Alsobrooks: You Don’t Have To Agree With Jimmy Kimmel, “But We Have A Right In This Country To Speak Freely”
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) joins MSNBC host Ana Cabrera to share her reaction to Disney’s ABC pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air indefinitely. “This is a five-alarm fire,” Alsobrooks said about the shuttering of Kimmel’s show. “It is deeply concerning to me and ought to be to every single person watching the perilous course that we are on. We didn’t have to agree with what Jimmy Kimmel said, but we have a right in this country to speak freely. And having the government sanction what we say, to censor what we say, to control what we say is a very dangerous, dangerous precedent.” “As a moral country, I think that we ought to really be concerned about punishing and the vindictiveness that we are seeing,” Alsobrooks said. “And the cruelty is, I think, going to mark our country. I am concerned for generations to come.”
ANA CABRERA, MSNBC HOST: Joining us now is Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland. She’s a member of the Senate Health Committee. Lots of ground to cover. Let’s start with free speech. We heard President Trump in that news conference talk about Jimmy Kimmel’s show being pulled from the air, slamming him as not having talent. Between that and what we heard from the FCC chair this morning, they’re not even trying to subtly influence media companies right now. It’s blatant. Are you surprised they’re doing this all out in the open? SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D-MD): Well, you know what? I’m not surprised because the FCC chair was one of the authors of Project 25. And what we know is that we — this is a five-alarm fire. And I hope that every American watching understands clearly what we are seeing. The First Amendment in our country is sacrosanct. It is the basis of our country. And having the right to freely speak is a basic right. It is not partisan either. It is not partisan. But this is a five-alarm fire. It is deeply concerning to me and ought to be to every single person watching the perilous course that we are on. We didn’t have to agree with what Jimmy Kimmel said, but we have a right in this country to speak freely. And having the government sanction what we say, to censor what we say, to control what we say is a very dangerous, dangerous precedent. This is a five-alarm fire. CABRERA: Something else that was touched on during that news conference was what appears to be a broader crackdown here at home, the president saying he’s designating Antifa as a terrorist organization. What questions do you have about that? ALSOBROOKS: Well, that one, to be honest with you, I hadn’t heard that bit of news. We’re in an environment now where the news is evolving by the second. But, again, going back to what you have mentioned, saying that free speech is very important to our country and making sure that we are not rolling back the constitutional rights that we all have in this country is really — it’s really important. CABRERA: Yes, let’s talk about this bigger picture about how the Trump administration appears to be going after its critics. The White House has applied pressure on a slew of media companies. Stephen Miller said the DOJ will now look into which liberal groups and NGOs are — quote — “paying for violence,” as he described it. What impact does this have on America’s democratic system? ALSOBROOKS: Well, our democratic system is under attack right now. It really is. And this witch-hunt that we have seen everywhere, from the firing of the federal employees, the removal of scientists at HHS who disagreed with the secretary there, the undoing of the public health system in our country, we now are seeing that we are — the more difficult access for children to vaccinations and for those who need it. Distrust of science and scientists. This, again, is a very perilous course that we’re on. And this witch-hunt to remove and punish enemies, to silence people is one that our country will pay for, for decades to come. And, again, it is a five-alarm fire. I am deeply concerned about it. It is deeply un-American at its core. And, again, it goes against the constitutional principles upon which our country was built. And it not only harms us here domestically, but it harms us internationally, harms our reputation, harms us as a strength and a power. And as a moral country, I think that we ought to really be concerned about punishing and the vindictiveness that we are seeing. And the cruelty is, I think, going to mark our country. I am concerned for generations to come.
