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The Trump administration is using massive federal power to punish the media for being downplayed as too bad.
The president has long used vicious attacks on companies like CNN and the New York Times, as well as individual journalists, and filed numerous lawsuits against them. He even accused the media of “treasonous” behavior. I think we are used to that.
But there is a whole new level of escalation that goes beyond intimidation. Trump and his allies are pushing for regulatory guidelines to force networks to spend more time and money to maintain their franchises.
And the biggest target right now is ABC.
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President Trump stands with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr as the chairman warns news organizations to correct course or risk losing their licenses. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu/Getty Images Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, and Trump wants Jimmy Kimmel fired, has launched a review of local station licenses linked to the Disney subsidiary. This legal battle will drag on for years and is unlikely to be successful; only one license has ever been issued, and that was in the last century.
Think about it. Why should an ABC-owned station in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles have its license at risk because a federal agency doesn’t like the network’s content?
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel addresses the FCC’s new threat during his show on Jan. 21, 2026. (JimmyKimmelLive/ABC)
The ABC has produced 11,000 documents in the investigation so far, which gives you an idea of the scope of the competition.
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“The commission’s actions threaten to undo decades of stable law and decriminalize critical discourse, both about ‘opinion’ and more broadly,” the ABC said in an official filing.
Yes, “The View,” the all-female talk show founded by Barbara Walters in 1997 and syndicated by ABC. That is now a bull in the middle of a big target.
The show usually featured one conservative person to moderate Whoopi Goldberg and the liberal Joy Behar. But these days the opposition panels are also very anti-Trump.
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The first installment was based on the ABC station in Houston, KTRK, which originated from the small controversy of “The View.” And as the New York Times points out, the station’s documents were signed by former attorney general Paul Clement.
The argument is that the programme, which is part of the ABC news arm, should be exempt from equal time rules.
ABC says it has invited JD Vance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Lindsey Graham, Josh Hawley, Elon Musk, Kevin McCarthy and Marco Rubio, according to the Hollywood Reporter, but they all declined.
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“The View” was released as a news show back in 2002.
Disney also notes that the FCC has not gone after conservatives — or liberals — on talk radio.
We have seen these tactics in other places. Trump’s Justice Department last fall brought a lawsuit against James Comey, which was dismissed by a judge. After Trump fired Pam Bondi for not getting results, the department last month brought a second, much smaller case against the former FBI director who was despised by Trump, based only on the post of seashell art that is 86 * 47. And Comey has to hire lawyers again.
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It is thus that the media, and even many conservative legal commentators, call this case nonsense.
Andy McCarthy of the National Review, a former federal prosecutor, says:
“Of course, Comey clearly did not intend to threaten bodily harm. However, basically, even if Comey’s attitude was bad, he will be innocent because seashells were not a possible threat…
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“The case must be dropped before the trial because ’86 47′ is not a real threat.”
The Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into ABC’s “The View” over its policy of providing equal time to political candidates, Fox News Digital has learned. (Lou Rocco/Getty Images)
Look, the administration has done everything it can to criticize the media, like kicking Pentagon reporters out of the building after they refused to submit to pre-screening.
And Trump has collected at least $16 million each in previous lawsuits against CBS and ABC.
In addition, Trump’s friend, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and his son David, who bought CBS without government interference, may soon control CNN. The expectation is that they will change the world’s first 24-hour network, whose founder Ted Turner died last week, in a way that is favorable to Trump.
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Splitting a network or a revenge program is itself a form of bias.
And using unchecked government power against unpopular journalists and programs, to the point of Whoopi Goldberg, is deeply troubling.
