The Media Research Center’s nepo-baby president, David Bozell, had more to say — read: a partisan agenda to push and spin — regarding ABC’s Trump-cheered suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. He wrote a Sept. 19 column at Fox News, which was promoted in a post by Curtis Houck as Bozell having “blasted the flimsy arguments that cancel culture is on the march for those who’ve expressed odious and stomach-churning responses” to Kirk’s death. The reality is a little different — Bozell actually tried to redefine cancel culture to absolve right-wingers of conducting it:
Cancel culture has always been about silencing dissent and enforcing conformity to the liberal agenda. Christians who refused to march in lockstep with new orthodoxies were stripped of jobs, deplatformed, denied banking services and hounded from public life. Conservatives never demanded that liberals change their private beliefs — only that liberals stop weaponizing those beliefs to punish dissenters.
What’s happening now looks different. Private companies are distancing themselves from employees who smeared a man murdered in cold blood. Businesses don’t exist to serve radical ideology. They exist to serve customers. When an employee brings shame on the company by cheering violence, a corporation has every right to say: not on our watch.
We recall that the MRC didn’t think Rush Limbaugh should be subjected to cancel culture for his three days of vile misogyny against Sandra Fluke — an inconvenient history Bozell fails to disclose. He then pretended that Kirk wasn’t a partisan activist:
Charlie’s death is not fodder for ideological games. He was a husband, a father and a leader who reshaped the political landscape by inspiring millions of young Americans. He deserves honesty in the coverage of his life and dignity in the wake of his murder. Jimmy Kimmel denied him both.
America deserves better from its media. We should not accept lies without correction. We should not accept hosts who mock the dead and then slink away without apology. And we should not confuse accountability with censorship. Kimmel either lied or was woefully ignorant. In either case, his silence speaks louder than any joke he ever told.
That’s a convenient dodge to avoid having to discuss Kirk’s racism and hate. Bozell concluded by huffing: “Free speech remains secure. What hangs in the balance is honesty — and that’s where Kimmel failed.” Unmentioned: the MRC does not hold its fellow right-wingers to the same standard of honesty it now demands of Kimmel — witness its efforts to protect Fox News from the fact that it smeared and defamed the election-tech company Dominion and had to pay it $787 million to make up for that dishonesty.
Also undiscussed: Did Bozell actually write this Fox News piece? Remember that his father, Brent Bozell, lied to the public for years by presenting his syndicated column as his own work when, in fact, it was ghost-written by subordinate Tim Graham. Given that history, it’s a reasonable question to ask. It was also unmentioned that Fox News employs numerous former MRC workers.
Bozell popped up in another forum, surprisingly outside the safe space of the right-wing media bubble:
Today, on an episode of USA Today’s Connecting America podcast, hosted by Alisyn Camerota, Jim Rosenfield, and Dave Briggs, Media Research Center President David Bozell joined to discuss free speech and the fallout from Jimmy Kimmel’s controversial monologue falsely linking Charlie Kirk’s shooter to the MAGA movement. The exchange grew heated, with the hosts — representing a clearly non-conservative platform — frequently interrupting Bozell. Despite this, he stood his ground, delivering sharp, fact-based responses that exposed the flaws in their arguments.
Camerota opened by questioning whether Kimmel’s monologue was protected free speech, given MRC’s advocacy for it: “Wasn’t Jimmy Kimmel … expressing free speech?” Bozell fired back: “Jimmy Kimmel lied through his teeth. And Wolf Blitzer was woefully misinformed about characterizing the assassin as a member of MAGA.” He stressed that Kimmel’s claim was baseless, noting Utah Governor Spencer Cox had debunked similar assertions on CNN with Blitzer the previous day.
Bozell then served up more spin:
Rosenfield pressed Bozell on former President Trump’s suggestion that networks could lose licenses: “Should some networks lose their licenses, as the President suggested?” Bozell countered by emphasizing market dynamics, highlighting how ABC affiliates, like Nexstar in Chicago, faced customer backlash: “Nexstar’s biggest affiliate is Chicago. And their phone lines are getting melted by their customers who don’t want to see this stuff broadcast through their television screens anymore.”
Camerota insisted lies are protected speech: “You’re allowed to actually lie with freedom of speech, right?” Bozell stood firm: “You’re also allowed to be canceled for lying.” Camerota followed with “Shouldn’t Jimmy Kimmel be able to express his satire and his opinion on this?” Bozell said that Kimmel was given an opportunity to clarify his remarks. “According to the Hollywood Reporter, he wanted to double down.” Bozell also clarified that Kimmel’s team vetted the monologue. “That joke was prepared in advance, vetted by writers and the production team.”
[…]Briggs asked if FCC involvement weakened conservative anti-cancel culture arguments. Bozell responded: “The FCC’s charter is to protect the public interest. And to be a voice for the broadcasters as well.” He noted affiliates likely consulted FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr for legal options, not content control, as “these affiliates have obligations to their constituents, i.e., their customers.”
Writer Kurt Etheridge — the MRC’s PR guy — then huffed:
Rosenfield’s closing revealed the hosts’ bias: “Charlie Kirk, unlike the conservative movement at the moment, loved debate, which is not being encouraged by the people trying to honor his legacy.” This swipe painted conservatives as anti-debate, underscoring the liberal tilt Bozell skillfully navigated, reinforcing MRC’s mission to challenge such distortions.
As if Bozell does not have a right-wing bias that drives his hatred of Kimmel and desire to personally destroy him. And if Bozell and his fellow conservatives aren’t “anti-debate,” why are no opinions that diverge from right-wing orthodoxy permitted on any MRC website? Why have most MRC employees blocked or muted us on social media? And why hasn’t Tim Graham invited us to be on his podcast? Seems like they’re very much anti-debate — and that Rosenfeld is not wrong.