Does the new GOP FCC now stand for forgive conservative causes and threaten liberal comments they don’t like?
Under Republican Chairman Brendan Carr (Trump-appointed, took over in January 2025), the FCC has taken an assertive posture toward broadcasters seen as unfriendly to Trump or conservatives, while conservative-aligned outlets like Fox haven't faced comparable scrutiny:
Carr has launched formal investigations of nearly every major broadcast network since taking the helm in January, including NPR, PBS, ABC, CBS, and NBC. Fox, owned by Trump ally Rupert Murdoch, is the one exception. NPR
Carr opened an Enforcement Bureau investigation into Disney and ABC over concerns their DEI practices might violate FCC discrimination rules, and the FCC has launched similar DEI-related investigations into NBC and CBS, alongside an accelerated review of ABC's local station broadcast licenses. The Federalist + 2
The FCC pushed a narrower reading of the "bona fide news exemption" that put "The View" in a dispute with the FCC after the show interviewed the Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, with Carr threatening that broadcasters "will lose their licenses" if they don't change course, in that case, over Iran-war coverage. Salon
Carr previously threatened to investigate stations for "news distortion" over Jimmy Kimmel's comments about Charlie Kirk's killer, which led ABC to suspend Kimmel. NPR
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others have called this dangerous rhetoric, arguing it's illegal for government to censor speech it doesn't like. Carr has embraced the characterization of himself as Trump's "attack dog" against the media. Variety
Critics say this is selective, viewpoint-based enforcement, going hard after outlets perceived as anti-Trump while giving conservative media a pass. Legal scholars quoted in coverage note the investigations and threats fall well within First Amendment-protected territory that most media lawyers say Carr is pressuring anyway. NPR
Carr's defenders argue the FCC is finally enforcing existing rules, like the equal-time and bona fide news exemptions — that had gone unenforced for years, and that the "legacy media" bias has made this necessary, per Carr's own framing. The Federalist
One notable wrinkle, flagged by a law professor in the Salon piece: this kind of aggressive, precedent-setting enforcement could "easily be flipped around onto the Republicans and conservative media should the Democrats win the White House in 2028." Once the norm of hands-off broadcast content regulation is broken, it doesn't automatically favor one side long-term. Salon
So to "forgive conservative causes, threaten liberal comments", that's a reasonably accurate short-hand of what critics allege is happening in practice, even if the FCC's official rationale is different. Whether it's fair or lawful is still being litigated (ABC is actively fighting it), so courts will likely be the ones to settle it.
Forgiving conservative causes or their political supporters involves setting down personal resentment. We can approach this by separating policies from the individual, looking for shared goals, and focusing on empathy to reduce division.
Is the GOP FCC under Republican leadership effectively "forgiving conservative causes and threatening liberal causes or comments they don't like," that's a matter of political interpretation rather than an established fact.
