Brendan Carr hit back at Gavin Newsom’s criticism of the FCC’s Nexstar-Tegna merger approval, claiming the governor was merely “doing the bidding of his liberal Hollywood donors.”
The FCC chairman issued his scathing response to Newsom on X Wednesday evening, where he suggested that the California democrat didn’t have “any legitimate interest” in the recent deal.
“Gavin Newsom isn’t standing up to me for any legitimate interest,” Carr wrote in his X post. “He’s simply doing the bidding of his liberal Hollywood donors—the billionaires in media who have no interest in the FCC holding them accountable to their statutory public interest obligations.”
He continued: “They want free rein to distort the news, broadcast hoaxes and serve their own narrow interests and in doing so force their radical worldview on Americans without any regard to their broadcast license obligations. Not anymore.”
Carr’s statement comes a day after Newsom sounded off on the Nexstar-Tegna merger nabbing FCC approval, blasting both the $6.2 billion deal and Carr as a “disgrace.”
“What’s going on in this country should scare the hell out of everybody,” Newsom said in a video posted to X by HQNewsNow on Tuesday. “This Nexstar deal is an outrage. The fact that he provided that waiver — this is the same Brendan Carr that’s celebrating Nexstar for trying to censor Jimmy Kimmel. The same Brendan Carr was out there demanding better coverage of the president of the United States during a time of war.”
The governor added: “I don’t care what side of the political aisle you’re on. This is the kind of behavior you would see in Hungary, the kind of behavior you would see in Turkey, the kind of behavior that makes Putin blush. Brendan Carr is a disgrace and this deal is an outrage and disgrace.”
As we previously reported, the deal gives Nexstar 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, representing 80% of U.S. television households, adding Big-4 affiliate stations in Phoenix, Atlanta, Toledo, Portland and Maine. The combined company will also have stations in nine of the top 10 markets, and in 41 of the top 50.
In the aftermath of the merger gaining approval by the FCC, state attorneys general from California, New York and six other states filed an emergency motion to block the deal — and warned that the deal would reduce competition and provide fewer checks on power.
On California leading the charge, Newsom said he was “very proud” of the Golden State and urged other states to join in on the legal action. At the time, he said that the “consolidation of right wing media parroting right wing talking points is happening in plain sight,” defending that there needs to be a “real and honest conversation about what the hell is going on with the FCC and the takeover of the public broadcast.”
The approval of the Nexstar-Tegna deal was subject to raising or eliminating the 39% national TV ownership cap put in place by Congress in 2004 to protect viewpoint diversity, as well as prevent monopolization. However, instead of modifying the ownership rules, Carr granted the companies a waiver and defended that the decision would empower broadcast TV stations and foster local journalism.
“The D.C. Circuit has already determined that the relevant media ownership regulation is an agency rule, not a firm statutory limit, and the full Commission has reached the same determination on multiple occasions,” Carr said. “Waiving that rule here is consistent with longstanding FCC authorities and doing so promotes the underlying purpose of the FCC’s media regulations by promoting competition, localism and diversity.”
Additionally, Nexstar agreed to divest six stations across six different DMAs and agreed to make commitments to affordability and localism, helping close the deal.
“By bringing these two outstanding companies together, Nexstar will be a stronger, more dynamic enterprise — better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming with enhanced assets, capabilities and talent,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said in a statement. “We are grateful to President Trump, Chairman Carr and the DOJ for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and enabling this transaction to move forward.”
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