Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Hollywood was “fully complicit” in censorship coming out of China and even works directly with the Chinese censors.

Partial transcript as follows:

CARLSON: Senator Ted Cruz is infuriated by it and says it’s time for the government to punish studios that grovel before their Chinese masters. He joins us tonight. Senator, thanks so much for coming on. How big is this problem?

CRUZ: Well, the problem of China generally is enormous. And I think this should be a wakeup call to the entire world, this pandemic that is playing out. The problem of censorship is a massive problem within China. China’s own censorship and cover up of this pandemic helped produce 257,000 deaths worldwide. And when it comes to Hollywood — Hollywood is not an innocent bystander here. Hollywood is fully complicit. Hollywood works with the Chinese censors. Hollywood has been willing over and over and over again. There’s so much money at stake.

You pointed out “Top Gun.” I mean, think about that for a second. The original “Top Gun” may have been the greatest Navy recruiting film ever made. They didn’t just change the Taiwanese flag. They also removed the Japanese flag. Both of them were in the back of Maverick’s jacket and the studios didn’t want to tick off the Chinese censors, so they pulled it down.

What are we saying to the world? That Maverick is afraid of the Chinese communists? I’ll give you another example. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” fabulous movie, terrific biopic of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen. The Chinese censors demanded that they edit out scenes showing that Freddie Mercury was gay, that he was homosexual. Now pause to think about how many Hollywood producers like to virtue signal about their courage and free speech and artistic integrity, and yet, they happily try to edit out the fact that Freddie Mercury is gay. I mean, that is — it’s extraordinary. And so I’ve introduced this legislature.

CARLSON: It’s funny I never saw a press release from the Human Rights Campaign complaining about that. I wonder why.

CRUZ: Not only that. I pointed this out the other day, and several LGBT magazines began attacking me. How dare Ted Cruz stand up and fight for gay rights? Listen, I am against censorship, and I’m against Chinese communists. And by the way, I believe in truth. You can’t tell Freddie Mercury’s life without acknowledging that he was gay. It was a big part of his life.

CARLSON: Of course.

CRUZ: And he’s an incredibly talented musician.

CARLSON: So, in just 20 seconds, tell me what the Congress and what the Senate can do about this.

CRUZ: The Pentagon assists Hollywood over and over again with access to plane, ships, assets, about a thousand movies. I introduce legislation that says you don’t get to use Pentagon assets if you’re going to cooperate with Chinese censors. We’re not going to facilitate Chinese communist censorship.

CARLSON: Amen. Good for you. I hope you yank their tax credits, too. Senator, great to see you tonight. Thank you for doing that.

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN