FCC chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday said ABC’s decision not to air President Donald Trump’s address to the nation last week would likely factor into the agency’s early review of broadcast licenses for eight affiliated stations.
During the speech, Trump said that ABC and NBC, both of which did not air the president’s address on their broadcast networks, should have their licenses revoked.
“I think when you have the president of the United States standing inside the White House delivering an important speech, I think that’s something that broadcasters should be carrying. And so, obviously, this is an issue,” Carr told reporters Wednesday.
Politics: ICE Officer Who Shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo ‘Switched Guns’ Afterward: Witness
ABC’s decision could factor into the license review because the network was not meeting its so-called “public interest obligations,” Carr claimed.
“I’m sure that there are going to be points raised in that proceeding that relate to Disney’s decision,” Carr said of ABC not carrying Trump’s speech. “Again, we’re going to hold all broadcasters to the public interest obligations, and we’re always looking to make sure they do exactly that.”
The early review of the eight ABC-owned stations, which includes those in major metropolitan areas such as WABC in New York City and KABC in Los Angeles, was originally ordered in April.
Both ABC and NBC carried Trump’s speech on their respective streaming services and have previously declined to air speeches by Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Watch Carr’s full remarks from Wednesday here:
Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost.
Political Updates
Read the original on HuffPost
