Day: September 19, 2025

Democrats opened investigations, filed motions to subpoena and demanded the resignation of the Federal Communications Commission chair Thursday — a response to the suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that represented unusually swift pushback from a party struggling to find its footing.

But it’s not clear how Democrats will translate this relatively united front into an electoral strategy, as the party remains divided over how and how much to talk about threats to democracy ahead of next year’s pivotal midterm elections.

That tension began playing out in their descriptions of Kimmel’s suspension, as some Democrats urged their party to retool its messaging.

At a press conference on Capitol Hill to announce legislation to protect free speech, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) attacked President Donald Trump for “trying to destroy our democracy” and acting like “many would-be despots.” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) cautioned “fascism is not on the way, it is here.” But Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who is running for the U.S. Senate in a high-profile primary, warned that language may be “too abstract for people” and urged Democrats to “distill it down to something people get in their everyday life.”

“This is what we saw in 2024: When you talk about ‘fascism’ and ‘democracy’ and ‘oligarchy,’ it’s too big a concept,” McMorrow said. “People are so overwhelmed and when it’s too big, people just wonder, ‘well, what can I possibly do about it?’”

A House Democratic member, granted anonymity to discuss the issue candidly, warned of “a risk in talking about it in hyperbolic terms,” adding that there’s distinction in framing. “If you’re saying, ‘they’re taking away your speech and they’re canceling you,’ that’s more powerful than saying, ‘they’re taking away your democracy,’” the lawmaker added.

The Kimmel controversy — and how to talk about it — lands in the middle of an already-inflamed political landscape. Following last week’s killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Kimmel made comments Monday that appeared to align Kirk’s alleged killer with the MAGA movement. ABC announced Kimmel’s suspension on Wednesday night, after FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened the network if it didn’t take action, telling a conservative podcaster, “we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

“It’s very clearly part of a crackdown on freedom of speech,” former federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told POLITICO. “If we can’t have comedians, let alone law firms or academics or journalists speaking their mind, then this isn’t a free country.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a statement with colleagues lambasting the FCC’s “corrupt abuse of power.”

Even so, veteran Democratic strategist David Axelrod warned that Democrats must not lose focus.

“The main thing needs to be the main thing and the main thing is that people have struggles in their lives in this economy, and Democrats need to keep that the focus,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean that you can ignore what isn’t just a free speech issue.”

Trump celebrated Kimmel’s suspension during a press conference in the United Kingdom on Thursday, while arguing the late-night host “was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else.”

“He said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “You can call that free speech or not, he was fired for lack of talent.”

Even some Trump-friendly comedians and podcasters have raised concerns over Kimmel’s suspension. Tim Dillon, who interviewed then-vice presidential candidate JD Vance last year, posted on Instagram: “I am against Kimmel being taken off the air and against people being shot for their opinions. See how easy it is?” One of the hosts of the Flagrant podcast, who interviewed Trump in 2024, said, “in terms of censorship, freedom of speech is more under attack now, honestly, than I think it’s ever been.”

Democrats see it as an opening for breaking through to “people who are not hard partisans,” said Tim Hogan, a Democratic National Committee senior adviser.

“There is a broad audience that’s splintering from Trump’s coalition that understands everyone and anyone could be a target for something they say,” Hogan said. “This is not amorphous, this is going after your right to free speech.”

North Carolina state Sen. Graig Meyer urged his party to “meme this” rather than lecture voters on it, adding that, “yes, it’s authoritarianism,” but “Democrats should talk about it like, ‘Republicans want to take away your laughs,’” he said.

“The left is so bad at doing that type of culturally embedded storytelling and Republicans are so good at it,” Meyer said. “This is a chance to change the narrative around Trump, and it’s a chance to change the cultural narrative around Democrats, being willing to fight and providing an alternative.”

The flurry of controversial events is forcing a party in the political wilderness to confront anew an issue that bedeviled it during the presidential election last year.

Leaning on democracy as a campaign message didn’t help Democrats in 2024, when they deployed it against Trump and he nevertheless won the popular vote. Kamala Harris held one of her final campaign rallies last fall on the Ellipse, the same spot where Trump rallied his own supporters to march on the Capitol.

Several national Democrats said privately that Kimmel and free speech are “not going to be the top midterm issues Democrats are talking about,” one strategist said granted anonymity to discuss it candidly.

“Poll after poll shows that Trump’s threats to democracy aren’t a top issue for swing voters, and I don’t see it dominating in TV ads next fall,” said Democratic pollster Brian Stryker. “But sometimes you have to fight for things because it’s the right thing to do for the country and not because it’s going to win you an election. And if we don’t fight now, we may not have elections to fight to win in the future.”

Adam Wren and Cassandra Dumay contributed reporting.

​Politics

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s federally-focused campaign against vaccines is entering a new phase with allies intent on rolling back school and health care facility mandates.

Anti-vaccines advocates are now targeting Louisiana, Texas and Idaho, where they are pushing red state governors to follow Florida’s lead in removing requirements in schools for students to get certain shots. But those advocates, emboldened by recent victories in state legislatures, face steep political obstacles within their own party that will reveal how far GOP state leaders are willing to go to support the anti-vaccine wing of the Republican party.

That test for Republican governors and state lawmakers comes as the vaccine debate crescendos in Washington this week, with the charged testimony of ousted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Susan Monarez and the anticipated weakening of vaccine recommendations from its advisors. Kennedy had previously changed federal guidance advising Americans six months and older to get an annual Covid shot. The new guidance recommends it only for elderly people and those with underlying health conditions.

“They’re not going to want to run against the president’s policies, on one hand, but on the other hand, they also don’t want to eliminate the constituency which supports childhood vaccines,” Dorit Reiss, an attorney specializing in vaccine policy, said of the choice Republicans face. “So I think they’re going to have to sit down and do some math in an area that’s full of landmines.”

In Louisiana, lobbyists are planning to reintroduce a “medical freedom” bill that failed last year to ban vaccine mandates, but expanded to include schools.

“We feel like the climate is ready for it,” said Jill Hines, co-director of the anti-vaccine group Health Freedom Louisiana. “That conversation has already started with Florida’s foot in the door.”

In the Lone Star state – where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott capitalized on outrage over pandemic restrictions – Jackie Schlegel, president of anti-vaccine group Texans for Medical Freedom, promised “sweeping reforms in Texas in the coming years.”

“Putting parents as the sole decision maker and not the CDC or local school districts is what our legislators are talking about,” she added.

And Idaho lawmakers are expected to build upon an expansive “medical freedom” bill enacted earlier this year that prohibits businesses and schools from mandating “medical interventions,” including vaccines, although it allows for some exemptions.

But the politics of undoing vaccine requirements in schools – mandates that health experts credit with keeping injection rates high – are complicated. Polling shows Americans — including most Republicans — broadly support such mandates for schoolchildren. President Donald Trump’s own pollster warned Republicans against mistaking opposition to Covid shots among Republicans “as evidence that Republican voters are against all vaccinations. To do so would be folly.”

Yet the MAHA movement – which includes people who share Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccine safety – has emerged as a powerful force within the GOP, broadening the party’s tent and motivating some voters to turn out for Trump. Mothers comprise a large component of the MAHA coalition, and recent polling conducted by Bellwether Research revealed that nearly a quarter of women surveyed don’t believe vaccines administered in the U.S. are generally safe.

Months out from legislative sessions resuming across the country, no other state lawmaker or official has yet to step forward with plans to replicate Florida’s approach. But public health experts are fearful that Gov. Ron DeSantis could still set off a domino effect in GOP states. Florida is the first state to take sweeping executive action to remove school mandates, with its health department moving forward with rules to end requirements for four vaccines, including chickenpox. Removing mandates for measles and polio would require action from the state legislature.

“I would imagine that other red states are looking at this and trying to make an assessment about whether they want to follow Florida’s lead,” said Jennifer Kates, senior vice president at KFF, a health research group. “I don’t think it’s the end of the story.”

Following the pandemic, GOP states ushered in a wave of legislation allowing more exemptions to school vaccine mandates for religious or even personal beliefs. Pursuing outright bans in schools or medical facilities has long been anti-vaxxers’ on wishlists; now they believe Kennedy’s posture fosters a favorable political environment.

Aaron Siri, a vaccine injury lawyer who provides counsel for the Informed Consent Action Network, an anti-vaccine group that writes model state legislation, said “mandates are the tool of bullies, criminals and dictators.”

Like-minded groups may have trouble finding state lawmakers to propose their desired legislation though. Some legislators who have championed easing state requirements believe they’ve achieved most of what is politically feasible.

Louisiana Rep. Kathy Edmonston credited Kennedy’s MAHA movement for launching “a whole new way to look at public health.” But the Republican, who sponsored laws signed by GOP Gov. Jeff Landry prohibiting Louisiana schools from requiring Covid shots and requiring that they inform parents of their rights to an exemption, said she has “no plans to change what we’ve done.”

“We have everybody on the same page,” she said. “We’re requiring the parent to get your child vaccinated. But we’re telling you that if it goes against anything in your line of thinking, that you have the opportunity to exempt your child.”Louisiana already had one of the nation’s most lenient school vaccine policies, issuing exemptions on the request of a parent for any reason. No school system in the country requires Covid vaccination.

Alabama state Rep. Mack Butler recently reintroduced a bill to allow parents requesting a religious exemption to send a note to a child’s school instead of submitting a written objection and then getting approval from local health officials. Still, the Republican hasn’t heard of any initiative that would eliminate requirements altogether, and he called vaccines for mumps, measles and polio “tried and tested.”

Health care experts remain nervous about the potential for GOP leaders to bypass the legislature and act on their own to weaken vaccine policy. In Louisiana, Surgeon General Ralph Abraham last year directed the health department to no longer promote mass vaccinations. And while West Virginia lawmakers voted down a religious exemption bill in March, Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed an executive order that allows families to bypass vaccine requirements for religious reasons just hours after taking office this year. West Virginia is now mired in legal battles surrounding the implications of the governor’s order and the state Board of Education’s decision to continue requiring vaccines as the legal process plays out.

Rising anti-vaccine sentiment puts more pressure on state health officials to form a bulwark against efforts to chip away mandates, like in Mississippi, where its medical leadership has been steadfast.

“We have a really strong, educated legislature that values evidence-based medicine, and they’ve seen the importance of vaccines in preventing unnecessary deaths,” said Katherine Pannel, president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, a professional society for doctors. “They have been really valuable. So when any legislation to weaken the vaccine legislation has come up, they have been on target and have killed any kind of legislation.”

Florida is bound to face legal challenges that could slow or prohibit any repeal from going into effect, said James Hodge, an Arizona State University professor who specializes in vaccine law.

“We’re in a state of flux with Florida,” Hodge said. “We’re watching very carefully what and how far they go with this legally.”

Florida health care advocates intend to mount an aggressive campaign in opposition – and hope to send a warning about extreme political and health risks to other red states.

“I sincerely hope that other states don’t do this. We’re seeing at the national level an immense threat to the nation’s vaccine policy,” said Northe Saunders, president of American Families for Vaccines, an advocacy group that promotes immunization. “Any erosion at any level of government is going to put kids at risk and they’re going to get sick and unfortunately, people are going to die.”

​Politics