Ted Cruz revives push to make it easier to sue the government for censorship amid Kimmel return

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a new interview that he hopes his anti-censorship bill will receive bipartisan support after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was briefly suspended by ABC parent company Disney after remarks he made about Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin.

"Censorship is wrong, regardless of who's doing it," Cruz told The Wall Street Journal. 

Cruz stood out among Republicans by criticizing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr for threatening action against Kimmel last month after the liberal comedian's comments. 

"Jimmy Kimmel has mocked me so many times," Cruz said during his podcast after Kimmel's suspension. "The corporate media - they are dishonest. They are liars. I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was [suspended]. But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying, 'We don't like what you, the media, have said, we're going to ban you from the airwaves'… that will end up bad for conservatives."

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"Perhaps that poses an opportunity for us to work together in a bipartisan way," Cruz told the Journal.

Cruz said he was willing to appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to discuss the proposal, though he told the paper he doesn't find Kimmel or other late-night hosts funny due to their frequent focus on President Donald Trump.

The Texas senator jabbed at Kimmel during the interview, saying the host's ratings prior to his brief suspension meant his podcast was "kicking Kimmel's a-- every week."

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"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" has seen its ratings drop significantly over the past decade. The program averaged 2.4 million viewers in 2015 and has trended downward since, with 2.2 million in 2016 and 2017, 2.1 million in 2018, 1.9 million in 2019 and 1.8 million in 2020. By 2021, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" managed only 1.5 million nightly viewers.

Kimmel's 2025 average viewership of 1.6 million is down 37% from 2015. The decline is even more severe among adults ages 25-54, the advertiser-coveted demographic.

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"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" averaged nearly 1 million viewers in the key 25-54 demographic in 2015 but dropped to just 261,000 in 2025 - a 72% decline over the decade. 

Kimmel's show saw a short-lived ratings bump following his return from suspension. 

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Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.