FCC Reviews ABC Station Licenses Over 'The View' Equal-Time Dispute

The Trump administration is deploying federal regulatory power against media outlets criticized for negative coverage.

President Trump has repeatedly attacked CNN and The New York Times, along with individual journalists, through rhetoric and lawsuits. He has accused the press of seditious conduct. Now Trump and his allies are pressing regulators to burden networks with compliance costs.

ABC faces the sharpest scrutiny. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who joined Trump in calling for Jimmy Kimmel's firing, started a review of licenses for local stations owned by Disney. The process has forced ABC to produce 11,000 documents so far. Only one broadcast license has ever been revoked, half a century ago.

ABC argued in a legal filing that the commission's actions threaten decades of settled law and chill protected speech on 'The View' and beyond. The daytime talk show, founded by Barbara Walters in 1997 and syndicated by ABC, usually includes one conservative voice alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar. Current conservative panelists oppose Trump.

The probe began with Houston station KTRK over a minor 'The View' dispute. Paperwork there carried the signature of former solicitor general Paul Clement. At stake is whether the program, treated as part of ABC's news division, qualifies for exemption from equal-time rules. 'The View' received such an exemption in 2002.

ABC invited JD Vance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Lindsey Graham, Josh Hawley, Elon Musk, Kevin McCarthy and Marco Rubio to appear, according to the Hollywood Reporter. All declined. Disney pointed out that the FCC has not pursued similar actions against talk radio hosts, conservative or liberal.

Similar tactics appeared elsewhere. The Trump Justice Department indicted James Comey last fall; a judge dismissed it. After Trump fired Pam Bondi, the department filed a narrower case last month over Comey's seashell art reading 86*47. National Review's Andy McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, called the charges absurd. He said Comey did not intend bodily harm and that '86 47' is not a true threat, so the case must be dismissed pretrial.

The administration also removed Pentagon reporters who rejected advance censorship. Trump has won at least $16 million each from prior lawsuits against CBS and ABC. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and his son David, who acquired CBS without government hurdles, may soon control CNN. Ted Turner, the network's founder, died last week.