How Brendan Carr, Trump’s FCC chair, is rattling media giants

A look at Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr's dramatic transformation from a low-key communications policy wonk into one of Trump’s staunchest cultural warriors. Since becoming FCC chairman in late January, Carr has repeatedly poked the corporate owners of ABC, CBS and NBC — networks the president dislikes. In 2024, Donald Trump sued CBS over edits to a pre-election “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump has demanded $20 billion, alleging the interview was doctored to make Harris look better. CBS should lose its licenses, Trump has said. Chairman Carr opened an FCC inquiry into whether the “60 Minutes” edits rose to the level of news distortion. He ordered CBS to turn over raw footage of the Harris interview. CBS complied and outtakes showed Harris was quoted accurately, bolstering CBS’ account that it had not manipulated the interview. But the issue has roiled CBS owner Paramount Global and stalled the company’s proposed sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media. Conservatives have said they believe major networks suffer from extreme liberal bias and an intolerance toward opposing points of view. That has harmed America and resulted in a plummeting public trust in national news outlets, they assert, adding that FCC intervention may be justified. “The FCC over the last decade or so has walked away from enforcing [its] public interest obligations on broadcasters,” Chairman Carr said in a March interview with the D.C.-centric Punchbowl News. He wants to restore the agency’s teeth. “If a broadcaster has a problem with that ... the FCC address is 45 L Street, Northeast,” Chairman Carr said. “They can give us their licenses back.”