Washington DC - Texas Senator Ted Cruz surprisingly crossed President Donald Trump as he slammed the government's role in the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's show.

Cruz slammed comments made by FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who had threatened to revoke ABC's broadcast license if the network didn't punish Jimmy Kimmel for his take on far-right commentator Charlie Kirk's murder.

The senator called the intervention "dangerous as hell" and a move that is "right out of Goodfellas" – the 1990 mob classic starring Robert De Niro.

"Let me tell you: if the government gets in the business of saying, 'We don't like what you, the media, have said, we're going to ban you from the airwaves if you don't say what we like,' that will end up bad for conservatives," Cruz said in an appearance on his podcast.

Melania Trump Melania Trump wages war over rumors about her connection to Epstein

"They will silence us," he warned, referring to Democrats. "They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly."

In a press conference on Friday, Trump again suggested negative coverage of his administration should be illegal and hit back at Cruz.

"I disagree with Ted Cruz," Trump went on. "I think Brendan Carr doesn't like to see the airwaves be used illegally and incorrectly, and purposely horribly."

"He doesn't like to see a person that won the election in a landslide get 97% bad publicity before the election," Trump said, before calling on TV networks "to show honesty and integrity."

"When they take a great success, like you often do, and you make it into like it's a loser, or you put a negative spin on it, I don't think that's right. So I think Brendan Carr is a great American."