A top FCC official pushed back Friday on President Donald Trump‘s demand that the agency revoke the broadcast licenses of ABC and NBC after the networks refused to air his primetime address, according to reports.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the FCC, made her position known in a post on X.
“It is ridiculous to call for broadcasters to lose their license simply for making the same editorial decisions they’ve made under presidents of both parties, especially when the remarks were still available to anyone who wanted to watch them online,” Gomez wrote.
“The FCC has no authority to punish a station for refusing to air a blatantly political speech,” she added. “This is a naked attempt to bully broadcasters, and the FCC should have no part in it.”
Trump used his speech to advocate for his SAVE America Act ahead of the midterms, push claims about China’s interference in U.S. elections and attack ABC and NBC for not airing his speech, Deadline reported.
In the past, networks have opted not to show addresses from other former presidents, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Media and political experts responded to Gomez’s comments.
“Brutal response,” Scott MacFarlane, chief Washington correspondent for MeidasTouch, wrote on X.
“The networks didn’t carry two Jimmy Carter addresses,” Wall Street Journal media reporter Joe Flint wrote on X.
“A lot of people don’t understand the First Amendment, or editorial independence, and for the record the speech was available to anyone who wanted to watch or listen to it,” Robert Lang, WBAL NewsRadio reporter and anchor, wrote on X.
It is ridiculous to call for broadcasters to lose their license simply for making the same editorial decisions they’ve made under presidents of both parties, especially when the remarks were still available to anyone who wanted to watch them online. https://t.co/L0F0Va7yRB pic.twitter.com/DMcS2wH93b — Anna M. Gomez (@AGomezFCC) July 17, 2026
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