WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to Donald Trump’s call for ABC stations to lose their broadcast licenses, Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has issued a strongly worded statement condemning the idea.
“The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy,” Rosenworcel said. “The FCC does not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.”
Trump called for ABC to lose its licenses after the Sept. 12 presidential debate, where ABC News moderators fact-checked some of Trump’s widely debunked statements, including Trump’s erroneous claim that Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating dogs and cats.
In a call to Fox News during the Fox & Friends morning show on following the debate Sept. 11, Trump attacked the ABC moderators for bias and called it a “rigged” debate.
“To be honest, they’re a news organization,” Trump said. “They have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.”
It wasn’t clear if he was calling for the revocation of licenses of stations owned by ABC or if he was referring to all ABC TV station affiliates, which are owned by a variety of companies. Broadcast networks aren't themselves aren't licensed by the FCC while broadcast affiliate stations and local TV stations are licensed.
Broadcasters were required to be politically balanced until the Fairness Doctrine was abolished in 1987 during the Reagan administration.
Trump didn’t address his position on the Fairness Doctrine or the fact that bringing it back would cause serious problems for the many conservative radio talk shows that have backed Trump.
Free speech has also been a major line of defense by Fox Corp., which owns both Fox News, where Trump made his call to revoke ABC licenses, and local TV stations.
Activists have been pushing for Fox to lose its Philadelphia TV station license for WTXF-TV, arguing that the election conspiracy theories advanced by Fox News Channel make Fox "unfit" to own broadcast stations. Fox’s arguments against that push have relied heavily on the idea that the FCC can’t infringe on free speech. The license renewal is still under review by the FCC.
