President Donald Trump on Saturday night complained in a public social media post to his U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi about what he characterized as DOJ passivity concerning legal action taken against his adversaries, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey and Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA).
On social media, POTUS wrote, addressing Bondi: “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia???? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.'” He added, “JUST MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
This public call by the President to prosecute his political adversaries, which Hillary Clinton likened to a scenario in which Richard Nixon “tweeted the Watergate scandal,” follows a public pressure campaign by Trump’s FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to remove ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel from the airwaves for comments some Republicans found insensitive and biased.
[NOTE: In a statement portraying the practice of free speech as potentially criminal, Trump himself said of his detractors in the media: “They’ll take a great story and they’ll make it bad. See, I think that’s really illegal.”]
On This Week, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) responded to the President’s message to Bondi — characterized as a “direct order” to prosecute his enemies. Murphy railed against the weaponization of government for retribution and defended the First Amendment as “a core fundamental American value.”
Asserting that “this is one of the most dangerous moments America has ever faced,” Murphy said: “The President is now employing the full power of the federal government — the FCC, the Department of Justice — in order to punish, lock up, take down, off the air all of his political enemies.”
Murphy continued: “This is what happens in Iran. This is what happens in Cuba. This is what happens in China, in deeply repressive states in which if you have the courage to stand up and speak truth to power, you are silenced.”
He added: “The question today is when is enough enough for Republicans? I was very glad to see Ted Cruz stand up and say what is simply true — it is unconstitutional and deeply immoral for the president to jail or silence his political enemies.”
Chris Murphy: "The question today is when is enough enough for Republicans. I was very glad to see Ted Cruz stand up and say what is simply true — it is unconstitutional and deeply immoral for the president to jail or silence his political enemies … next week, we need every… pic.twitter.com/5rBvEjZDkN
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 21, 2025
Note: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned Republicans last week that letting the federal government threaten to censor voices it doesn’t like could hurt the party. He said: “It might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel. But when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it.”
In a rare political alignment, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also agreed with Cruz: “I don’t often agree with Ted Cruz, but he’s right about this. The US government can’t force Jimmy Kimmel, or anyone else, off the air because they disagree with what he says.”
I don’t often agree with Ted Cruz, but he’s right about this.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 20, 2025
The US government can’t force Jimmy Kimmel, or anyone else, off the air because they disagree with what he says.
Clearly, FCC Chair Carr hasn’t read the Constitution.
Kimmel should be reinstated. Carr should resign. https://t.co/4CdHXbcPTe
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