A long-time vocal defender of the First Amendment, Carr for years has blasted Democrats and Republicans alike for attempting to strong-arm television networks and social media companies over their moderation decisions. He called these efforts “media censorship USA” and “a serious violation of free speech.” He frequently argued that political satire is “one of the oldest and most vital forms of expression,” warning that even relatively mild government “encouragement” via hearings, letters, or informal conversations could FCC government pressure officials did not like.

For that reason, Carr’s comments on Wednesday caught some by surprise. Replying to Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on-air about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Carr said on a conservative podcast that Disney and ABC executives should take care to rein in Kimmel. Carr said that Kimmel could be addressed “the easy or the hard way,” warning that if the network did not want to take care of the issue itself, the FCC would make its future interactions with the network “more work to do ahead.”

“These companies can make changes and take action on Kimmel,” Carr said, “or the FCC will have more work to do ahead.”

Hours later, ABC issued a statement saying Kimmel’s late-night show would be put on hiatus “indefinitely.”

In the past, Carr has forcefully argued that the federal government should not be intervening in questions of political expression, including satire. FCC free speech debate also seem to contradict a unanimous Supreme Court decision last year, where the justices held that officials cannot strong-arm private companies into punishing speech they do not like. That decision was in a case brought by the National Rifle Association, when the court sided with the NRA against a New York state official accused of pressuring financial institutions to end business with the organization.

Questions now swirl over whether Carr, who built his reputation on defending the speech rights of private companies, is following through on that tradition.