Donald Trump is at it again. This time, he wants the government to yank the broadcast licenses of ABC and NBC. Why? Because they didn’t air his latest prime-time rant. It is a classic Trump move, but the Federal Communications Commission isn’t biting.
Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, called the threat exactly what it is: ridiculous. She pointed out that the networks made standard editorial choices. Presidents from both parties get rejected sometimes. It is not a crime. It is just television.
“Those editorial decisions are protected by the First Amendment,” Gomez said in a Friday statement. She added that the FCC has zero authority to punish stations for skipping a political speech. To her, this is just a naked attempt to bully broadcasters. She wants the FCC to stay far away from it.
Trump used a thirty-minute speech on Thursday to repeat his usual claims about rigged elections. When the networks skipped the broadcast, he lost his temper. He called NBC and ABC “fake news” and claimed their refusal to cover him was a fraud that deserved license revocation.
But pulling a license is not that easy. It takes a massive, multi-step legal battle. An administrative law judge has to rule on it first. Then come the appeals, the full commission hearings, and the federal courts. It is a bureaucratic nightmare.
Besides, the law is on the networks’ side. Broadcasters have massive First Amendment protections. They decide what airs. Sure, they usually carry presidential addresses as a public service, but they do not have to. In fact, networks have snubbed both Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the past. Trump is not the first president to get muted, and he won’t be the last.
