Trump Doubles Down On Broadcasting Licenses: They ‘Must Be Challenged’

President Donald Trump speak to members of the media regarding the on going situation in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminister, N.J. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Donald Trump speak to members of the media regarding the on going situation in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminister, N.J. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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After suggesting Wednesday morning that television networks’ broadcasting licenses should be challenged, President Donald Trump ramped up his threat to news outlets, arguing that their broadcasting licenses “must be challenged” or even “revoked.”

Trump has long bashed the media and and targeted specific outlets after they publish unfavorable reports. However, Trump escalated his tiff with NBC News Wednesday morning. He had already bashed the outlet following a report that Secretary of State Tillerson called him a “moron.” Trump’s frustration with NBC then grew when the outlet then reported that he told officials over the summer that he wanted to significantly increase the United States’ nuclear capabilities.

He asked on Twitter Wednesday morning, “With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License?” Trump followed up later in the day to say that “it’s frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want.”

Despite the threats Trump has issued on Twitter, there’s not much he can do to challenge networks’ broadcasting licenses.

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Notable Replies

  1. Grumpy , stop being a Dickhead ALL your life . Take a day off now and again .

  2. “***Not fair to public!***”

    C’mon, Donnie, you’ve said it before. Say it again, louder: “They’re the enemy of the people!” Some goober is bound to kill a reporter given a couple more nudges.

    ETA: Your pal Erdogan knows how to deal with the pesky press - show some strength.

  3. Avatar for lacis lacis says:

    This is where the rubber hits the road with Trump. Most of his antics, we all laugh or cry and the Trumpeteers all cheer. I keep reassuring myself “as long as we have the press we’re ok”. But if he succeeds with any aspect of censorship, it is the first step to dictatorship. Every decent patriotic American must actively oppose this. I don’t care what political orientation–if you are a patriot and you love the USA and its constitution, you must help stop this crazy talk from becoming reality.

  4. Avatar for jwbuho jwbuho says:

    As someone on NPR pointed out yesterday, just imagine what the headlines would look like if Obama had threatened such things about Fox News’ reporting about his administration.

  5. Avatar for jwbuho jwbuho says:

    Putin, too.

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