Democrats blast FCC Chair Carr’s broadcast license threats as anti-First Amendment, ‘totalitarian’
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has drawn fierce backlash from Democratic lawmakers and free speech advocates for threatening to revoke broadcasters’ licenses over their coverage of the war in Iran. Carr on Saturday blasted broadcasters shortly after President Donald Trump called reports that Iran struck five U.S. tanker planes “fake news.” In a post on X, Carr warned that broadcasters will lose their licenses if they don’t “operate in the public interest.” “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote in the post, which attached Trump’s statement on Truth Social earlier Saturday. Democrats said Carr’s comments amounted to an authoritarian assault on free speech. “Constitutional law 101: it’s illegal for the government to censor free speech it just doesn’t like about Trump’s Iran war,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote Saturday on X. “This threat is straight out of the authoritarian playbook.” “We aren’t on the verge of a totalitarian takeover,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote in a …

