“This was based on DEI conduct, not speech,” said Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr today as the agency has launched a sudden and suspicious license renewal review of ABC stations after another fracas between Donald Trump and Jimmy Kimmel. “The FCC has rules on the books.”
“You can’t discriminate based on race and gender, and there’s evidence that have been submitted that that’s what Disney was doing, and so that’s the timeline of the agency’s actions,” Carr doubled down, trying to swat away the obvious implications of political interference out of the seemingly kneejerk probe.
With DEI a die-hard target of the Project 2025 driven Trump administration since its return to power, Carr proclaimed: “We can’t mess around.”
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Still, ever the loyalist, when it came to the White House’s latest outrage over satirical comments by Kimmel and ABC, Carr could resist aiming to please his audience of one. “There’s a lot of people who agree with the President on this one,” Carr made a point of saying, and declaring that Trump like any other American has a right to express his often acerbic opinion.
Holding a further match over regulatory gasoline, Carr also Thursday hinted that Comcast-owned NBC stations could find themselves under license review too.
“It depends on where the investigations go,” he said Thursday after the Commission’s latest opening meeting in DC. “I don’t have an update right now and where we are in that Comcast one, but we’ve been very consistent across the board about what we view as invidious forms of DEI discrimination as deals have come before the FCC. We have required people to look at their policies and make sure they don’t have what we think is invidious forms of DEI.”
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Opening with remarks that saw a clumsy “he didn’t see that coming” quip about the true powers of mentalist Oz Pearlman in light of the April 25 shooting at the White House Correspondence Dinner, Carr continued Monday to insist the ABC review was actually due to concerns over “racially segregated spaces inside the company.”
“We thought Disney was hitting us up with the okey-doke,” the longtime FCC member added of his perception of the scope of diversity polices.
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The widely criticized review process kicked off by the FCC on April 28 gives the Disney-owned ABC 30 days to submit all the required documentation on its approximately 10 owned and operated station for vital license renewals. Coming two to four years early, the timeline of long-threaten process from MAGA loyalist Carr could prove ultimately to be an empty threat to pressure the now Josh D’Amaro run Disney. The process also could, depending on where it goes, result in a long drawn out court battle that may outlive the current administration or certainly GOP dominance of al three levels of the federal government.
In terms of another haywire process that may or may not have seen politics play a larger role that policy, Carr punted Thursday on the state of the now paused Nexstar and Tegna merger. Noting the April 17 court order freezing the apparent done deal, that was lightening speed fast tracked, the FCC boss said any response would come in a May 11 filing on the matter.
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