‘Grounded in Neither Reality Nor Law’
At least one Republican member of Congress is pushing back against Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr’s recent threats to enact revenge on broadcasters for coverage of President Trump’s war against Iran — and a Democrat is calling on him to resign from his position.
Carr is one agency head who has taken his role in the Trump administration quite seriously, finding innovative new ways to demonstrate his sycophancy. He’s gone after talk show hosts who have interviewed Democratic politicians (his targeting of The View also lead CBS to attempt to squelch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) or who spoke about Charlie Kirk’s death in ways that Trump didn’t like (ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s show under pressure from Carr).
This weekend, Carr issued an ominous threat to news outlets suggesting they could face issues renewing their broadcasting licenses if they didn’t cover the war correctly (that is, how Trump wants). He made the remarks while reposting a screenshot of a Truth Social screed from Trump, who took issue in particular with the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and in general with “Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media” who “actually want us to lose the war.”
“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions — also known as the fake news — have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote in a Twitter post on Saturday. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
“And frankly, changing course is in their own business interests since trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters,” he continued. “The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves. When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong. It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can’t allow that to happen. Time for change!”
The sole Democratic commissioner at the FCC, Anna Gomez, pointed out in a statement on Monday that the FCC doesn’t have any broadcasting licenses up for renewal until 2028. She also said that the FCC doesn’t have regulatory power over national news organizations, but rather it licenses local TV stations owned by the five major broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, Fox, the CW Network and NBC.
“Early renewal attempts are exceedingly rare, and the process is so demanding that any effort would almost certainly fail, especially given the well-documented First Amendment violations underlying these moves,” Gomez said. “These threats are grounded in neither reality nor law and would not survive judicial scrutiny, just as other recent attempts by this Administration to push beyond constitutional limits have repeatedly failed in court.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) appears to be one of the only Republicans who has weighed in on Carr’s recent remarks threatening broadcasting licenses for unfavorable coverage of Trump.
“I am a big supporter of the First Amendment,” Johnson said on Fox News on Sunday. “I do not like the heavy-handed government, no matter who is wielding it. … I would rather the federal government stay out of the private sector as much as possible.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) sent a letter to Carr’s office on Monday demanding his resignation, saying his recent remarks “demonstrated your continued effort to turn the FCC into Trump’s personal speech police.”
“Your Saturday post is not an aberration. It is the latest and most dangerous step in a sustained campaign to use the FCC’s licensing authority as a weapon against broadcasters and journalists whose coverage displeases the Trump administration,” Markey wrote. “The FCC’s credibility depends on its willingness to exercise its authority on the merits, not at the direction of the President, and not as an instrument of retribution against journalism. You have once again shown that you are unwilling to maintain that independence and uphold your sworn oath to defend the U.S. Constitution, and I once again call on you to resign.”
Republicans Want Trump to Drop 2020 Beef
Ahead of the midterm elections, local and state level Republican Party leaders would like President Trump to focus on literally anything that is happening right now over his conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.
Politico has a new report out today based on conversations the outlet had with several Republican state and county chairs and strategists. The takeaway? Trump’s election-related grievances might help rile up some of the far-right voters in Trump’s base during the primaries, but they’d rather he focus his energy on affordability issues rather than the election he lost six years ago.
“Part of me understands it, and part of me just wants to move forward,” said Todd Gillman, chair of the Monroe County Republican Party in Michigan.
“Focus on the things that matter to everybody throughout the whole country,” he said, “or we’re going to have a problem in a few months.”
This Video Is Surreal? Deranged? Both?
In public remarks alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Monday, President Trump revealed that a member of the House Republican conference had received a “terminal” diagnosis — “he would be dead by June,” as Trump put it — and still chose to show up for votes and continue working so that Democrats could not pick up a seat.
“Okay, that wasn’t public, but okay. It it — it was grim, that’s what I was going to say,” Johnson said.
Both Trump and Johnson claimed the member, Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL), had improved prospects after Trump connected him with doctors at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
In Case You Missed It
Morning Memo: Desperate Trump Begs for Help to Escape Iran Fiasco
New from Layla A. Jones this morning: Why Trump’s Approach to Affordability Is One Big Illusion
TPM Cafe: A White Nationalist Publication Took Over a West Virginia Castle. I Got Inside.
The latest from Josh Kovensky: Trump Crackdown on ‘Terrorist’ Left Notches a Victory in Texas
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
The FBI Won’t Talk About the Business End of Kash Patel’s Deal With the UFC
What We Are Reading
To Address Farm Labor Shortage, Trump Administration Turns to Migrant Workers
Change in Data Sources Led to Lower Inflation Reading
Kyrsten Sinema Admits to Having Affair With Former Bodyguard
So is Trump now able to raise the dead? That would be one way to help in November.
Isn’t that a government facility?
So Socialistic Medical care? For Congress?
And the rest of us can just fuck off?
I think it is socialized medical care for Trump and those he has use for in the moment.
Trump wants to be the guy that can hook you up for a good pair of shoes or a medical miracle. He is a master of the universe.
What a fucking maroon. He is incapable of even keeping a secret, a skill that most people obtain once they can do abstract thinking - and therein lies the problem.