Trump signals major media shake-up with FCC chairman pick



Jessica Rosenworcel, the Democrat presently running the Federal Communications Commission, has been antagonistic to President-elect Donald Trump and dismissive of conservatives' concerns in recent years, particularly regarding rogue liberal broadcasters, the foreign-funded takeover of hundreds of American radio stations, and other pressing issues pertaining to the regulation of wire, television, radio, cable, and satellite communications in the homeland.

Trump announced his nominee to replace Rosenworcel Sunday evening: Brendan Carr, currently the senior Republican commissioner on the five-member, Democrat-controlled FCC.

After highlighting that he first nominated Carr to the commission in 2017 and that Carr has been confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate thrice, Trump noted, "Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans' Freedoms, and held back our Economy. He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America's Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America."

'We must dismantle the censorship cartel.'

Prior to serving the independent federal agency as commissioner, the father of three was the FCC's general counsel, an attorney at Wiley Rein LLP, a clerk for Jude Dennis Shedd on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and an editor for the Catholic University Law Review.

"Thank you, President Trump!" Carr responded on X. "I am humbled and honored to serve as Chairman of the FCC. Now we get to work."

Carr, a lead-bellied critic of tech censorship and identity politics, immediately made clear that he was ready to make waves.

"We must dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans," wrote Carr.

Insinuating that the FCC as currently led and composed has failed in its duties, the commissioner noted further, "Broadcast media have had the privilege of using a scarce and valuable public resource — our airwaves. In turn, they are required by law to operate in the public interest. When the transition is complete, the FCC will enforce this public interest obligation."

A FCC under Carr would likely take another look at leftist billionaire George Soros' takeover of over 200 American radio stations with cash from unvetted foreign nationals. After all, he was a vociferous critic of the takeover while his Democratic peers were virtually silent.

Carr previously told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, "Foreign company ownership of U.S. radio stations is not supposed to exceed 25%. But Soros took foreign investment to make his bid, and then he asked the FCC to make an exception to the usual review process."

The three Democratic appointees on the FCC signed off on both approving the assignment of licenses under the control of a Texas bankruptcy court to the Soros-controlled company Audacy and to sparing the company from complying with Section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act, which prohibits foreign owners from having a stake in a radio station license exceeding 25%.

"Never before has the Commission voted to approve the transfer of a broadcast license — let alone the transfer of broadcast licenses for over 200 radio stations across more than 40 markets — without following the requirements and procedures codified in federal law," Carr said in his dissenting statement. "Not once."

A Carr-led FCC might not be so willing to look the other way.

On Sunday, Carr indicated that in addition to fulfilling its obligations to the public, his FCC would give the boot to the racist ideology that has taken hold at the institution in recent years.

"The FCC's most recent budget request said that promoting DEI was the agency's second highest strategic goal," wrote Carr. "Starting next year, the FCC will end its promotion of DEI."

— (@)

Rather than obsessing over Americans' immutable characteristics, Carr indicated in Project 2025's "Mandate for Leadership" what the commission should instead be focused on:

  • "Reining in Big Tech,
  • Promoting national security,
  • Unleashing economic prosperity, and
  • Ensuring FCC accountability and good governance."

According to Carr, reining in Big Tech would require the elimination of its immunities that courts added to Section 230; the imposition of transparency rules on tech giants like Google and Facebook; support for legislation that ensures internet companies "no longer have carte blanche to censor protected speech while maintaining their Section 230 protections"; and Big Tech companies to pay their "fair share" into the Universal Service Fund.

Tackling tech censorship appears to be a matter of critical importance to Carr.

'Carr will be an outstanding FCC Chairman.'

Days prior to Trump's announcement, Carr penned a letter to the top executives at several social media companies, putting them on notice for their collusion with the "Orwellian" organization NewsGuard, which he noted leveraged its partnerships with advertising agencies "to effectively censor targeted outlets" — including Blaze Media.

"Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft & others have played central roles in the censorship cartel. The Orwellian named NewsGuard along with 'fact checking' groups & ad agencies helped enforce one-sided narratives. The censorship cartel must be dismantled," tweeted the commissioner.

Where national security is concerned, Carr seeks to curb foreign influence, subterfuge, and sabotage through and on various communications systems and social media platforms, especially TikTok. He appears to be focused primarily on countering the threats posed by communist China.

Carr, who has in recent days and months echoed Argentine President Javier Milei and Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency leaders, also stressed the importance of ending the wasteful spending policies pursued by the Biden-Harris administration and of maximizing efficiency.

Following Trump's landslide re-election earlier this month, Patrick Yoes, president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, insisted that Carr was the best choice for the job, writing:

Mr. Carr has more than 20 years of private and public sector expertise in communications and technology policy as well as a deep institutional knowledge of the FCC. As Commissioner, he is known as 'Mr. 5G' for his passionate commitment to cutting through the bureaucratic red tape to get 5G technology into the marketplace. He was instrumental in the FCC's recent action to authorize the use of the 4.9 GHz spectrum within the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) and granting a nationwide license to the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to administer it.

Yoes added that "Carr will be an outstanding FCC Chairman."

The chairman nominated by the previous president customarily resigns when a new commander in chief of a different political party takes power; however, this is apparently not required by law. Time will see whether Rosenworcel will leave the position kicking and screaming.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Trump scores free prime-time ad slot after NBC's 'SNL' skit scandal with Harris



Former President Donald Trump secured a free election promotion on NBC following complaints that the network attempted to give opponent Kamala Harris a boost with voters by featuring her on "Saturday Night Live." The network was accused of violating the Federal Communications Commission's "equal time" rule.

Trump's advertisement aired on Sunday evening after NASCAR's Xfinity 500 and the NFL's Minnesota Vikings-Indianapolis Colts football game.

'Just remember, Kamala and her friends broke it.'

The ad featured a "special message" from Trump to sports fans.

"We're two days away from the most important election in the history of our country. We've got to save our country, and it needs saving — it's in very bad shape," Trump stated. "The worst economic numbers in generations were just announced two days ago. We're losing jobs; we're losing everything, including viability."

Trump warned viewers that America is currently headed toward an economic depression.

"We've never seen anything like it, at least for the last 40 years," he continued.

Trump called for closing the borders, lowering taxes, and eliminating inflation.

"Just remember, Kamala and her friends broke it," he added. "I'll fix it."

"Go and vote," Trump concluded.

The ad directed viewers to a webpage with a form to obtain voter location and registration information.

NBC was forced to give Trump the free airtime after featuring Harris for a minute and a half in a cold open sketch for "SNL," the show's final episode before Election Day, Blaze News reported.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr called the skit "a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule."

"The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct - a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election," Carr continued. "Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns."

NBC filed an Equal Time notice with the FCC late Sunday after the pushback.

Carr told Fox News Digital that the network's filing confirms that it "views the Harris 'SNL' appearance as a free use of their facilities and airwaves within the meaning of the federal Equal Time rule."

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that Harris' cringeworthy sketch indicated her campaign is desperate to appeal to voters.

"Kamala Harris has nothing substantive to offer the American people, so that's why she's living out her warped fantasy cosplaying with her elitist friends on 'Saturday Night Leftists' as her campaign spirals down the drain into obscurity. For the last four years, Kamala's destructive policies have led to untold misery and hurt for all Americans. She broke it, and President Trump will fix it," Cheung told the news outlet.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

NBC Forced To Give Trump Airtime After Violating FCC Rules With Harris SNL Spot

Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said in a thread on X that Harris’ appearance on SNL ran afoul of the FCC’s 'Equal Time' rule.

FCC Commissioner Calls Out Kamala Harris’s ‘Biased And Partisan’ SNL Appearance

'This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule'

NBC strategically timed Harris' promo on 'SNL' to get around federal law: FCC commissioner



NBC's apparent attempt to give Kamala Harris a last-minute boost with a cringey spot on "Saturday Night Live" — which some critics have called an "in-kind donation" — appears to have been strategically timed in order to "evade" Federal Communications Commission rules, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said ahead of the Nov. 2 broadcast.

Carr, in the Republican minority on the commission, noted on X ahead of Harris' appearance, "This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule. The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct — a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election."

While the FCC's equal opportunities rule established by the Communications Act of 1934 does not require that networks like NBC "provide opposing candidates with programs identical to the initiating candidate," networks generally must provide "comparable time and placement."

Carr indicated that in recent elections, NBC at least made an effort to follow the equal time rule.

The Hollywood Reporter noted, for instance, that in 2015, then-candidate Trump appeared on "Saturday Night Live" during the Republican primary for a total of 12 minutes and five seconds. NBC subsequently offered the same amount of airtime to his opponents.

"NBC stations publicly filed Equal Opportunity notices to ensure that all other qualifying candidates could obtain Equal Time if they sought it," wrote the commissioner. "Stations did the same thing when Clinton appeared on SNL."

The equal time rule did not require NBC to seek out President Donald Trump and ask him if he similarly wanted to appear on "Saturday Night Live" but requires that the network entertain requests by the Republican president.

Carr suggested that the last-minute nature of Harris' "Saturday Night Live" spot was ostensibly the liberal outlet's way of flouting the FCC's rule.

'This requires FCC action.'

"Federal law requires that broadcasters provide comparable time and placement to all legally qualified candidates when the Equal Time rule is triggered," wrote Carr. "With only days before the election, NBC appears to have structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements. What comparable time and placement can they offer all other qualifying candidates?"

Not only did "Saturday Night Live" leave the appearance to the last moment and its final show before the election; the head of the show appears to have misled the Trump campaign with the suggestion in a September interview that the show would ultimately have neither Harris nor the 45th president on the show prior to the election.

"Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels told the Hollywood Reporter, "You can't bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions."

"You can't have the main candidates without having all the candidate, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states, and that becomes really complicated," Michaels said, suggesting that his program might have politicians on the show after the election.

A senior adviser for the Trump campaign reportedly informed Fox News that "Saturday Night Live" did not extend an invitation to Trump.

Carr stressed that "this requires FCC action" but indicated that the initiative must be taken by the commission's chair, Biden appointee Jessica Rosenworcel.

Rosenworcel has demonstrated an unwillingness to hold fellow travelers to the same standard as conservatives.

In September, Rosenworcel joined her fellow Democratic commissioners in approving Democratic mega-donor George Soros' controversial purchase of over 200 radio stations in over 40 markets with the help of unvetted foreign investors who were spared the cusomary national security review process.

After "60 Minutes'" apparently deceptive edit of its Harris interview, Rosenworcel lashed out at Trump last month for requesting that CBS News be held to account.

'She's living out her warped fantasy cosplaying with her elitist friends on "Saturday Night Leftists."'

While Democratic commissioners on the FCC might let NBC skate for its apparent evasion of federal law, the risk taken by "Saturday Night Live" still does not appear to have been worth it.

Harris appeared in the show's cold open, sitting opposite her fictional self, played by actress Maya Rudolph. Pretending to be mirror reflections of each other, the duo took turns talking up the vice president.

While some critics suggested that the Harris skit was a "cringe fest," in part owing to the accent the Democratic candidate decided to employ and her reliance on neoligisms rythming with "Kamala," others noted that it once again evidenced Harris' lack of originality.

Radio host Ari Hoffman was among the many critics who highlighted the resemblance between NBC's Harris skit and Trump's September 2015 skit on Jimmy Fallon's "The Tonight Show," writing, "Kamala continues her pattern of ripping off Trump."

In the 2015 spot, Jimmy Fallon, dressed up as Trump, sat opposite the future president with a fake mirror between them and conducted an interview.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung wrote, "In addition to stealing policy ideas, @KamalaHarris has now resorted to stealing comedy skits."

Cheung was likely referring to Harris' adoption of Trump's proposal to eliminate taxes on tips as well as her campaign's apparent plagiarization of the defunct Biden campaign's policy agenda. Harris' alleged plagiarism in her 2009 book, "Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer," indicates the vice president's lack of originality is nothing new.

Trump senior adviser Jason Miller wrote, "Pathetic."

Cheung told Fox News, "Kamala Harris has nothing substantive to offer the American people, so that's why she's living out her warped fantasy cosplaying with her elitist friends on 'Saturday Night Leftists' as her campaign spirals down the drain into obscurity. For the last four years, Kamala's destructive policies have led to untold misery and hurt for all Americans. She broke it, and President Trump will fix it."

Blaze News has reached out to Commissioner Carr and NBC for comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

FCC Commissioner: Edited CBS Harris Interview Should Probably Be Investigated

CBS is at the center of a complaint filed with the FCC over its interview with Harris.

CBS News, Release The Full Kamala Harris Interview Transcript Now

The American people should be able to trust that the news they watch is not deliberately distorted.

CBS Faces ‘News Distortion’ Complaint Amid ’60 Minutes’ Harris Interview Edit Scandal

Americans have watched as the media outlets once trusted as objective news sources have fractured that faith with journalistic malpractice.