House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries promised to investigate FCC Chairman Brendan Carr after the latter threatened to pull broadcast networks’ licenses over their coverage of the Iran War.
“Brendan Carr is a corrupt political hack and fake chair of the FCC,” the congressman from New York wrote on X alongside a screenshot of Carr’s weekend threat. “This guy (and the entities he promotes) will find himself on the wrong side of a congressional investigation in short order.”
Jeffries’ declaration came after Carr sparked outcry for accusing broadcasters of “running hoaxes and news distortions” amid Iran War coverage, warning they’ll “lose their licenses” if they do not “correct course” before renewals come up.
“It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news,” Carr added in his Saturday X post. “When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong. It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can’t allow that to happen. Time for change!”
While Jeffries decried Carr’s warning, President Donald Trump endorsed the FCC chairman’s sentiment, noting he was “thrilled” by the update on Sunday.
“I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, and never get, as I used to say in ‘The Apprentice,’ ‘FIRED.’”
Though, Trump also suggested that news organizations should be “brought up on charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information” after bemoaning critical Iran War coverage.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression also weighed in on Carr’s controversial comment, which they blasted as “outrageous.”
“Brendan Carr’s authoritarian warning — that networks risk their broadcasting licenses for Iran war reporting that the government doesn’t like — is outrageous,” the nonprofit organization wrote on X. “When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong.”
Later on in the statement, the organization slammed Carr’s tenure as FCC chairman, stating it “has been marked by his shameless willingness to bully and threaten our free press.”
“But even by Carr’s standards, today’s hypocrisy is shocking — and dangerous,” the note concluded. “The American people demand uncensored news about the men and women serving in our armed forces. Our right to a free press is one of the core American freedoms those in uniform have sworn to support and defend. It is long past time for our government officials to remember their own oaths to uphold the Constitution — starting with the First Amendment.”
A representative for the FCC did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
