Trump's FCC Chair Punishes ABC Over Kimmel

King Charles gets standing ovation over jab at Trump, DOJ indicts Comey over social media post, ICE detains two teens waiting for school bus

Apr 28, 2026

Good evening, and welcome to Raw America. I’m John Byrne, in for British Chris.

King Charles just dropped a bombshell before Congress. The Trump DOJ just indicted James Comey again. Trump’s FCC is going after ABC for not firing Jimmy Kimmel. And two teenage boys are sitting in detention facilities hundreds of miles apart, ripped from their host family while waiting for a school bus. These are the stories that matter. Let’s get into them.

The FCC has been fully captured by Trump loyalists and threatening to pull broadcast licenses from major networks as punishment for content the administration doesn’t like. And the right-wing billionaire Ellison family who bankrolled Trump’s return to power now controls CBS. They’re also on the precipice of taking control of CNN. Two of the biggest names in American news could be handed over to MAGA toadies.

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King Charles Gets Standing Ovation Over ‘Checks and Balances’ Comment

King Charles III addressed a joint session of Congress today, and the moment that brought the room to its feet wasn’t pomp or ceremony. It was a history lesson.

Charles traced the American Bill of Rights back to Britain’s own Declaration of Rights from 1689, and further still to the Magna Carta, signed in 1215. He pointed out that the Magna Carta has been cited in at least 160 Supreme Court cases since the founding of this republic.

Then he said something that hit differently given the current political moment. He reminded the chamber that the Magna Carta established the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances. That even a king is subject to the law of the land.

The room erupted.

Nobody had to explain what he was really talking about. Democrats have spent months arguing that the current president believes he’s above the law. And here was the King of England, standing in the people’s house, making the case that no one is.

Trump’s FCC Punishes Disney Over Jimmy Kimmel

The FCC, under Trump-appointed chair Brendan Carr, ordered ABC to file license renewals for all eight of its owned-and-operated TV stations within 30 days. The stated reason involves an investigation into Disney’s diversity programs. But nobody’s pretending that’s what this is really about.

What it’s really about is Jimmy Kimmel. Trump publicly called for Kimmel to be fired after a joke about Melania Trump. Disney stood by Kimmel. They aired his show. And now the federal government is coming after their broadcast licenses.

The standard for actually revoking a license is nearly impossible to meet. This process would take years. But that’s kind of the point. The process itself is the punishment. The goal is to make Disney’s resistance cost so much that other networks think twice.

One press freedom advocate called it “illegal jawboning.” The FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner called it “unprecedented” and “unlawful.”

Kimmel, for his part, reminded his audience that the First Amendment applies to all of us. His monologue racked up millions of views. Disney isn’t backing down.

Trump’s DOJ Indicts Comey Again Over Seashells Photo

James Comey has been indicted again.

This is now the third attempt by the Trump Justice Department to criminally charge the former FBI director. The first indictment, secured after Trump fired the original prosecutor for refusing to bring charges, was thrown out. A second attempt collapsed when a judge ruled the appointment of the new prosecutor didn’t follow federal law.

Now there’s a new indictment, filed in North Carolina, charging Comey with threatening the president.

The basis? A social media post. Last year, Comey posted a photo of seashells on a beach arranged to spell out “86 47.” The administration declared that “86” meant kill, and that Comey was threatening the president’s life.

Comey said he didn’t know the term had a violent connotation and deleted the post immediately. He cooperated with the Secret Service. The matter was dropped. Then it was revived.

This new effort comes just weeks after Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, reportedly because she wasn’t moving fast enough against his enemies. Her replacement, Todd Blanche, has wasted no time.

These aren’t coincidences. This is a pattern. And the media should plainly describe it that way.

ICE Took Two Teenage Boys Waiting for Their School Bus

This story is almost too painful to recount. But it needs to be told.

Israel Makoka, 18, and his brother Max, 15, emigrated from the Republic of Congo to Mississippi on legal F-1 student visas. They’ve been living with their host family, Cliff and Gail Baptiste, who’ve spent decades helping students, both American and international, find their footing and earn college scholarships.

On April 21, the brothers were standing at the curb waiting for their school bus. Ten unmarked cars surrounded them. ICE agents zip-tied both boys and took them away.

Neither has been accused of a crime. What happened was bureaucratic: when the brothers transferred from a private school to a public high school, their visa status lapsed. In another time, that might have triggered an opportunity to fix the paperwork. Not now.

Max, who is 15, was immediately separated from his brother and transported out of state. The family couldn’t reach him or find out where he was for days. Israel is being held at a detention facility in central Louisiana.

Israel turned 18 just weeks before he was detained. He had already committed to a college on a scholarship. He was weeks from graduating high school. His cap and gown sat waiting for him at Hancock High School this week.

He didn’t come.

Their coach says they made the team’s locker room the closest it had ever been. Their pastor calls Israel one of the most humble people he’s ever met in 20 years of ministry. Their teacher was waiting with a cap and gown, and he wasn’t there to receive it.

The family can’t even bring his parents over from Congo to help fight for him. The Republic of Congo is on Trump’s travel ban.

This is what “enforcement” looks like when it’s stripped of any human judgment whatsoever.

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