FCC Chair Condemns Trump's Calls to Revoke CBS License

The head of the Federal Communications Commission, Jessica Rosenworcel, has denounced former President Donald Trump's threats to revoke licenses from CBS and other networks, calling them attacks on free speech.

Trump's demands came in response to CBS's editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. In a Truth Social post, Trump accused CBS of a "FAKE NEWS SCAM" and said the network should have its license revoked. He doubled down on these claims during a speech in Detroit, as reported by Rolling Stone.

The controversy arose from discrepancies between a teaser clip shown on "Face the Nation" and the full "60 Minutes" broadcast. Trump alleges that CBS edited the interview to make Harris look better, calling it election interference.

Neither the Harris nor Trump campaigns have responded to USA TODAY's requests for comment. The Trump campaign has called for the full, unedited interview to be released, while the Harris campaign has referred questions to CBS, which has not commented.

Rosenworcel issued a statement on Thursday condemning Trump's criticisms:

“While repeated attacks against broadcast stations by the former President may now be familiar, these threats against free speech are serious and should not be ignored,” she said. “The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy. The FCC does not and will not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.”

Did CBS edit the ‘60 Minutes’ interview with Vice President Harris?

Yes, but this is standard procedure in news programming. Mark Feldstein, professor of journalism at the University of Maryland, explained that the key issue is whether the edits misrepresent the interviewee's responses. In this case, he noted that Harris's responses were ambiguous in both broadcasts, with no apparent unfair representation.

Feldstein added, "I think at bottom this is really just more whining from Trump about how unfairly the mainstream media is treating him – and an attempt to justify why he ducked being interviewed himself by '60 Minutes'."

Trump declined an interview on the traditional "60 Minutes" pre-election program, with one reported reason being potential fact-checking, according to CBS News.

Can the FCC revoke CBS’s broadcast license?

No. The FCC issues licenses for broadcast stations, not networks. Feldstein emphasized the disturbing nature of Trump's call, highlighting his contempt for press freedom and potential abuse of power if re-elected.

Earlier this year, Trump suggested revoking licenses from CNN and NBC for not broadcasting his live remarks. In 2017, then-FCC chairman Ajit Pai, appointed by Trump, defended the First Amendment and the FCC's lack of authority to revoke licenses based on newscast content, as reported by The Washington Post.

Rosenworcel has upheld this policy, stating that threats against broadcasters for opposing government views are dangerous and undermine free speech.

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