'Misleading the American public': Trump’s FCC chair tweets veiled threat at media giant
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr is threatening to revoke the licenses of broadcasters who don’t toe the current administration's line on the wrongful deportation of a legal U.S. resident.
“Comcast outlets spent days misleading the American public—implying that [Maryland father Kilmar] Abrego Garcia was merely a law-abiding U.S. citizen, just a regular ‘Maryland man.’ When the truth comes out, they ignore it,” Carr posted on X Wednesday. “Comcast knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest. News distortion doesn’t cut it.”
Carr then repeated false claims that Garcia “was validated as a member of the violent MS13 gang — a transnational criminal organization,” despite the administration's evidence resting its entire argument of Garcia's gang affiliation upon him "wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie” and the claim of a confidential informant who has not stepped forward.
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Carr’s statement comes on the heels of the Trump administration purging officials and independent agencies in an effort to remake government in his image.
Reaction to Carr’s post on X was quick.
“Chair of the FCC threatens broadcasters that don't peddle the administration's lies about a man who they sent to a hellish prison in another country probably for life,” wrote Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor Adam Gaffney. “Nothing to see here, all is well.”
Former NH Magazine reporter Jesse Singal said it was “insane,” for the “chair of the FCC, a longtime close Trump ally, threatening broadcasters for not serving as megaphones for this administration's endless b------t.”
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“The FCC chair should not be implicitly threatening broadcasters on the basis of news channels’ editorial decisions,” posted University of Massachusetts at Amherst Ethics Associate Professor Itai Sher. “This is outrageous and horrible from the standpoint of free speech.”
Other critics lamented the FCC falling under the heel of the White House.
“The FCC is not the Ministry of Truth,” wrote Nico Perrino, executive vice president of free speech group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. “It cannot ignore the First Amendment and weaponize its authority to target news outlets for critical coverage of the administration.
See Carr’s original post here.
