President Trump calls FCC Chairman Brendan Carr the ‘most powerful person in this room’
President Donald Trump praised the FCC chairman for doing a great job “making fake news real.”
- ABC has launched an on-air campaign encouraging viewers to submit comments to the FCC, where a lawsuit against the station is ongoing. As of June 25, tens of thousands of cases have been filed with the FCC.
- Chairman Brendan Kerr called the campaign “a pretty standard, off-the-shelf PR strategy.” He said the committee had not reached a conclusion regarding the ABC and had been “open-minded” during the proceedings.
The Federal Communications Commission remained divided on the topic of ABC at a June 25 public meeting, days after ABC launched an on-air campaign asking viewers to submit comments defending the station.
The comments were filed as part of separate ongoing investigations into Disney-owned ABC, one of which relates to the commission’s equal time rules. In February, the FCC began an enforcement action against Disney-owned ABC after state Rep. James Talarico (D-Texas) appeared on “The View” while running in the state’s Democratic Senate primary.
FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr characterized this as a procedural issue at the commission’s March public meeting, saying ABC had not filed proper paperwork declaring political candidates to appear, opening the opportunity for rival candidates to request “equal time and placement.”
Commissioner Anna Gomez, appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2023, rejected that idea, saying at a March meeting that the FCC was “using the equal-time rule as a means of harassment to provide broadcasters with objectionable content.”
In a legal filing in May accusing the FCC of violating its First Amendment rights, ABC said the talk show “has been broadcast under the bona fide press exemption granted more than 20 years ago.”
Later that month, the FCC began accepting public comments on whether ABC should be exempted from requirements to provide equal broadcasting opportunities to political candidates. As of June 25th, over 50,000 comments have been received.
Separately, the FCC in April ordered Disney-owned ABC to apply for license renewals for eight television stations by late May, several years earlier than planned. The order said the commission was investigating the stations for “possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and FCC rules, including the FCC’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.”
In response, Disney said it is “confident” that “this record demonstrates our continued eligibility as a licensee under the Communications Act and the First Amendment, and we are prepared to demonstrate that through appropriate legal channels.”
The FCC is also seeking public input on the license renewal issue, and as of June 25, had received nearly 40,000 comments on the issue.
Kerr called ABC’s public campaign, which involved local and national TV spots, “a pretty standard, off-the-shelf PR strategy.” Net neutrality is also a hot topic of great public interest, he said.
Although the chairman insisted the FCC was “open-minded” during the ABC case, Gomez doubted whether public input would ultimately determine the outcome.
“I suspect this FCC will cherry-pick the submissions of partisan organizations to support its goal of silencing critics,” she said.
Nevertheless, Gomez praised the networks’ efforts to combat what she described as a “coordinated campaign” of FCC “censorship and control.”
“I’m happy to see them fight,” Gomez said. “They need to do that. And it sends a message to other broadcasters. They can stand up for free press and free speech, or they can capitulate. And I’d rather do the former.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Disney for comment.
Breanna Frank is USA TODAY’s First Amendment reporter. please contact her bjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded by the Freedom Forum in collaboration with our journalism funding partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
