FCC Chair Says ABC’s Decision to Not Broadcast Trump Speech Live Will Be Part of Agency’s Review of Station Licenses

Are TV broadcasters obligated to carry the U.S. president’s comments live on their government-licensed airwaves? The current head of the Federal Communications Commission indicated that he believes they are. Chairman Brendan Carr said that the agency will consider ABC‘s decision to not carry a live broadcast President Donald Trump‘s July 16 speech about U.S. election security as part of its early review of licenses to eight ABC-owned stations. In President Trump’s speech, the president alleged U.S. elections had been “rigged and stolen.” He claimed China had illegally accessed millions of voter files as part of a broader effort to manipulate U.S. elections in 2018 and 2020. During the speech, the President called out ABC and NBC for opting to not carry his remarks live—and said because of that, they should lose their broadcast TV licenses. It’s a threat he has made numerous times in the past in various contexts. “In a rare move, NBC and ABC fake news have both said that they would not cover this speech. They knew what it was about,” President Trump said, as reported by Politico. “Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses.” There is a long-established precedent for broadcast TV networks to not air speeches of U.S. presidents live at their discretion. At an FCC press conference, Commissioner Anna Gomez pushed back on the assertion that broadcasters are compelled to carry a president’s speech.