The FCC’s MAGA standard: Target Trump’s enemies, let Fox News off the hook

Chair Brendan Carr of the Federal Communications Commission, President Donald Trump’s “censure-in-chief,” is waging a war on the First Amendment and freedom of the press by investigating all of the president's perceived enemies and the major media networks, while letting Fox News and Rupert Murdoch off the hook. In 2023, the Media and Democracy Project and its allies, former FOX executives and FCC officials, asked the FCC to deny the renewal of a Fox-owned local broadcast station’s license. But over 550 days later in the waning moments of the Biden administration, the FCC’s Media Bureau grouped together MAD’s petition with politically motivated complaints against ABC, CBS and NBC and dismissed them all stating it was an attempt to thwart the weaponization of “the licensing authority of the FCC in a way that is fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment.” We can see how well this preemptive maneuver turned out because Chairman Carr immediately reinstated the complaints against ABC, CBS and NBC, but not MAGA’s favorite network, FOX. Now, the FCC chairman is digging into ABC’s debate moderation, NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” guest appearances and CBS’s “60 Minutes” — but won’t touch Fox.