The die-hard Trump haters at the PBS News Hour rushed to the defense of their First Amendment hero Jimmy Kimmel by turning on Tuesday night to CNN's Brian Stelter again for liberal talking points. No conservative was invited, and there were no questions about Kimmel making wisecracks about President Trump dying. Remember, on Monday, PBS was outraged Trump planned to go "very hard" in mocking the press at the Correspondents Dinner. Some speech is much more precious than others to them. The FCC said it would investigate the licenses of eight ABC-owned TV stations. Anchor Geoff Bennett explained: “The FCC says the review of the licenses is tied to Disney's DEI initiatives, but it's widely seen as retaliation in the ongoing battle between President Trump and ABC and its late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.” Bennett first asked: “So, the FCC says the timing of this license review coming within 24 hours of President Trump criticizing Kimmel is coincidental. How credible is that claim, given the sequence of events?” Stelter replied: “Well, I don't know any legal experts or FCC experts who believe that claim.” PBS @NewsHour rushes to the defense of that 1st Amendment hero Jimmy Kimmel by turning to CNN's Brian Stelter for liberal talking points. "Normally, gosh, when we cover political leaders trying to silence a comedian, we're usually talking about authoritarian regimes. But, right… pic.twitter.com/hb6VjgsIUl — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) April 29, 2026 Okay. But let’s recall that if there were conservatives allowed on this show to rebut, they’d note Stelter’s view of the First Amendment has included loose talk of removing the Fox News Channel from cable systems. Five years ago on his old CNN show Reliable Sources, he proposed limiting Fox News as "harm reduction," and said “reducing a liar’s reach is not the same as censoring freedom of speech.” Bennett and PBS think merely taking away their taxpayer subsidies was a First Amendment travesty. Stelter quoted the lone Democrat on the FCC, Anna Gomez claiming this was "the most egregious action the FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date." Bennett’s next question: "The last time the FCC revoked a broadcast license related to a station's programming was in 1969. There was a station in Jackson, Mississippi, which defended segregation on the air. What are the realistic outcomes here? Are we talking fines, conditions on licenses, or something more severe?” Stelter said “I think the process is mostly the punishment here….And, by the way, this might not just be about Kimmel or about DEI programs, for that matter. In this building is the ABC daytime talk show The View. And FCC officials have also been scrutinizing The View over alleged equal time violations.” And again, a conservative rebuttal of Stelter would note that ABC completely violates the spirit of equal-time principles with both Kimmel’s show and The View -- just like PBS. The actual equal-time rules now only apply to candidates for office within 90 days of an election. Liberals only scream “First Amendment” about their own speech while they refuse to allow rebuttals. Bennett’s last question: "And how are other broadcasters watching all of this, Brian, based on your reporting?" Stelter said it could have a "chilling effect" on "mainstream media." That's what they preposterously call themselves, the "mainstream." But I am heartened to say that, when we have seen these other First Amendment stress tests in America during Trump 2.0, America has been passing the test, maybe not with A-plus grade. But remember last September, when Kimmel was briefly pulled off the air when there was another controversy? And then he was brought back less than a week later. That's an example of Disney recognizing that it has to defend its stars and defend the right of comedians and, yes, journalists too, to speak freely. Normally, gosh, when we cover political leaders trying to silence a comedian, we're usually talking about authoritarian regimes. But, right now, it's happening here in America. PBS loved that hot take so much they tweeted it out:  A conservative on PBS would say the Left sounds like authoritarians when you dare to say that there is no actual "climate emergency," or that transgenderism is a delusion, or denounce the authoritarianism of Covid lockdowns and vaccine mandates. Is the First Amendment glorious on those dissents?