FCC Chair Responds to Trump’s Demand to Shut Down ABC After Debate

The chair of the Federal Communications Commission flat-out rejected Donald Trump ’s call for ABC to lose its broadcasting licenses over the way its moderators treated him during his debate against Kamala Harris on the network earlier this month. In an interview with Fox & Friends after the Sept. 10 debate, the Republican nominee claimed he’d faced a “rigged deal” in the debate, complaining the moderators were “correcting everything” he was saying while failing to fact-check Harris. “They ought to take away their license for the way they did that,” he said at the time. Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) wrote to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel last week asking her to denounce Trump’s “lawless proposal.” “The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy,” Rosenworcel replied Thursday. “The Commission does not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.” She added that her agency licenses “broadcast stations in a manner consistent with the Constitution” and other laws. “There are no exceptions,” Rosenworcel wrote.

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