Jimmy Kimmel tore into Newsmax host Rob Schmitt for calling on the FCC to “regulate” his show.
In his Tuesday night airing of The Rob Schmitt show, Schmitt criticized Kimmel’s dismissal of President Donald Trump’s SAVE Act, which would require citizens to “provide documentary proof of US citizenship” before voting.
Kimmel, who has been a long-time critic of Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, said in his Monday monologue, “Trump wants to make it as difficult for Democrats to vote as he possibly can under the guise of stopping voter fraud, even though there is no meaningful voter fraud.”
Kimmel argued about the SAVE act, “This is about fixing the [midterm] election.”
Schmitt responded with outrage to Kimmel’s claim:
“Kimmel’s up there talking about [the SAVE act] like that on a comedy show on a federally regulated network," Schmitt said. “Again, ABC is defiant. They are against what the FCC is supposed to regulate.”
Schmitt further attacked Kimmel’s network, saying, “ABC breaks that law every single night, and it’s about time that they learned a lesson from that.”
“That is not a comedy show,” Schmitt said of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. “That is propaganda.”
Kimmel flippantly replied to Schmitt in his Wednesday monologue, saying, “I think of it as a little of both, you know?”
Kimmel said of Newsmax, “Oh, they’re such tattletales ... They’re so worried about cancel culture until I come on, and then they’re like, ‘Call the FCC! He’s breaking the law!’ How does this not embarrass them?”
Kimmel added about Schmitt, “This channel he’s on, Newsmax: I don’t know if you see, they’re literally on a payment plan right now. They owe $67 million for spreading Trump’s election lies.”
Kimmel was referring to Newsmax’s August 2025 settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, after the company sued them for pushing false claim that their machines had rigged the 2020 election against Trump.
Newsmax paid DVS $27 million in 2025, another $20 million in 2026, and must pay the remaining $20 million in January 2027.
“But we’re propaganda,” Kimmel quipped. “Newsmax is to the Trump administration what the Fearless Flyer is to Trader Joe’s.”
Schmitt’s comments come six months after the Trump-appointed FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, appeared to publicly pressure ABC into pulling Kimmel’s show from air.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said, shortly after Kimmel’s comments about right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk outraged MAGA supporters. “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
ABC did pre-empt Kimmel’s show for several days, but brought it back the following Tuesday after immense backlash from viewers.
FCC’s most recent overt influence on late-night TV was with its Jan. 21 announcement that they could begin enforcing the “equal time” rule for late-night TV, obliging hosts to “provide all candidates with equal opportunities” for air-time on their shows.
Although the FCC hadn’t actually started enforcing the rule, CBS appeased it anyway. It blocked Stephen Colbert in February from airing an interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico.
Colbert, whose show is ending permanently in May, responded by releasing his full interview with Talarico on his show’s YouTube page and criticizing CBS for bending the knee to the Trump administration’s FCC.
“I am grateful to have worked for CBS for the last 11 years,” Colbert said. “I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies.”
