FCC chair says ABC license review may include skipped Trump speech
Brendan Carr said ABC’s choice not to air Trump’s White House address could surface in an early FCC review of station licenses.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Wednesday that ABC’s decision not to put President Donald Trump’s White House speech on its broadcast network is likely to come up as the agency takes an early look at licenses for ABC-owned stations.
Trump, speaking during the address last week, said ABC and NBC should lose their broadcast licenses after the networks declined to air the speech on their main broadcast feeds, Deadline reported. Both networks made the address available on their streaming channels.
Carr told reporters that a presidential speech from inside the White House was the kind of event broadcasters should carry. He said concerns had already been raised, including by members of Congress, about whether the networks’ choices fit their public interest duties.
The FCC does not license ABC, NBC or other broadcast networks as networks. It does issue licenses to local broadcast stations, including stations owned by the networks themselves.
ABC stations already face early review
The agency has already ordered an early review of licenses for eight ABC broadcast outlets, Deadline reported. That order cited an inquiry into the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, while also inviting public comments on whether broadcasters have met broader public interest obligations.
Carr pointed to that pending proceeding when asked about ABC’s decision not to air Trump’s remarks. He said he expected comments in the review to address Disney’s choice. Disney is ABC’s parent company.
No similar early review has been ordered for NBC, according to Deadline.
ABC has pushed back against the FCC order requiring early renewal review of its licenses. The network described the move as "an extraordinary demonstration of power and coercion directed at disfavored editorial voices which sends a clear warning to every broadcaster in America," Deadline reported.
A spokesperson for ABC did not immediately respond to Deadline’s request for comment. NBC also did not have an immediate comment.
Speech was available online
NBC ran a broadcast special report on Trump’s speech and offered its streaming feed to affiliates that wanted to carry it live, Deadline reported. Sinclair-owned network affiliates did so that night.
Networks have previously declined to carry certain speeches by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, including after White House requests for airtime, according to Deadline.
The subject of Trump’s speech was election security. Deadline reported that the topic prompted concern that the remarks would be highly political and that Trump would repeat unfounded claims about a stolen election.
Carr also referred to a report that one or more networks had communicated with Democratic aides about their decisions not to carry the president’s remarks.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the commission’s only Democrat, said the agency lacks authority to penalize broadcasters for deciding what they consider newsworthy. She said broadcasters made similar decisions during administrations of both parties without complaints, and that Trump’s remarks were available online for viewers who wanted to watch.
Gomez said the public interest standard was being used to punish speech disliked by the administration and reward speech it favored, calling that inappropriate and contrary to the law and the Constitution.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.