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Two U.S. senators have reached out to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) following comments from former President Donald Trump.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Senators from Massachusetts and Oregon are demanding FCC commitments to objective licensing determinations following comments by former President Donald Trump.
Trump’s comments, which took aim at ABC News, came shortly after his presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris was hosted on the network.
“I think ABC took a big hit last night,” Trump said, during a call to Fox & Friends the following day. “I mean, to be honest, they are a news organization. They have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.”
The comments prompted Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to pen letters to the FCC.
“Given former President Trump’s repeated threats to weaponize the FCC’s licensing authority, I request that you respond in writing by September 20, 2024, with your commitment to making licensing determinations objectively, based on the standards set forth in the Communications Act, and in a manner that upholds the First Amendment,” the lawmakers wrote. “Americans should have complete faith that each FCC commissioner will carry out their responsibilities objectively and consistent with the Constitution.”
The letter stated that Trump’s remarks were “especially concerning considering his history of attempting to use the federal government’s authority to retaliate against news organizations.”
Additionally, the senators wrote that “ABC News does not hold an FCC license.”
“Contrary to former President Trump’s comments this week, the FCC does not ‘license’ news organizations but licenses local broadcast stations,” the letter stated.
On Friday, a release from Markey’s office also called Trump’s comments “a serious threat to the First Amendment and antithetical to the FCC’s mission.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has made comments about FCC licenses.
In 2017, and again in 2018, on the platform now known as X, Trump made similar comments about NBC News.
Currently, Jessica Rosenworcel, Anna Gomez, and Geoffrey Starks make up the FCC’s Democratic commissioners.
Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington are the two Republican commissioners on the FCC.
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