FCC Chair Brendan Carr just told television networks to "correct course" in their coverage of Trump's war with Iran — or risk losing their broadcast licenses.
Read that again.
A federal regulator is threatening to strip licenses from news outlets because the president didn't like what they reported. About a war.
This is retaliation, plain and simple. Carr didn't cite any legal standard or regulatory violation. He echoed Trump's own complaints about coverage of U.S. military operations and warned broadcasters they'd face consequences at renewal time.
Add your name: Demand the Senate Commerce Committee and House Energy & Commerce Committee open oversight hearings into Carr's threats immediately →
Carr has made this a pattern. He's publicly targeted late-night hosts like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel for criticizing the administration. He's used the weight of a federal agency to signal that programming Trump dislikes could trigger regulatory scrutiny.
And Trump himself has spent years calling journalists "fake news," threatening to revoke licenses, and pressuring media companies to fall in line.
When the government punishes the press for covering a war honestly, that's not regulation. That's state-controlled media.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce have direct oversight authority over the FCC. They need to use it.
Tell Congress: Investigate Brendan Carr's threats against broadcasters and protect the First Amendment from political retaliation →
