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Has anyone else noticed that whenever President Trump complains about TV press coverage on his Truth Social platform, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seems to follow up with another condemnation of network news — and often, a threat to local broadcast licenses? A coincidence? I think not.
Following his re-election, Trump lashed out at 60 Minutes over an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. He’s now filed a $20 billion lawsuit against CBS.
Just last week, Trump took aim again after 60 Minutes aired a segment featuring Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and another on Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. Trump expressed hope that Carr would “impose the maximum fines and punishment … for their unlawful and illegal behavior.” It’s clear this administration has it in for CBS and 60 Minutes in particular.
Now, reports suggest Carr is targeting Comcast’s NBC stations, citing MSNBC’s coverage of the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident mistakenly sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison — a fact even the government’s lawyers don’t dispute.
Carr argued that Comcast, like all major media companies with broadcast holdings, “knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest.” But here’s the problem: MSNBC is not a licensed broadcaster. Only NBC’s local stations fall under that federal mandate.
Whenever the President finds media coverage inconvenient or unfavorable, he leans on Carr to go after the networks’ parent companies using the only real weapon available: the local broadcast license renewals required every eight years. This is not just aggressive — it’s blatant overreach. And