FCC Chair Who Targeted ABC, Kimmel Says It Was Democrats Who ‘Massively Weaponized The FCC'

FCC Chair Brendan Carr accused Democrats of “weaponizing” the Federal Communications Commission while appearing Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”

Carr made the remark after host Sara Eisen asked him if he would be OK if Democrats gain power over the agency if a Democratic president is elected. She also questioned what Carr’s reaction would be if Democrats “assert the [same] power” and enforcement on conservative media.

“Well, Democrats were in charge of the FCC in the Biden era. They claimed far more sweeping powers than I’m suggesting, and for overtly partisan political reasons unlike the steps that we’re taking,” Carr said. “So for instance, during the Biden years, they teed up potentially not renewing a Fox broadcast TV license for content on Fox News Cable.”

“There were Democrat Senators, including Sen. [Ed] Markey that previously, even before Biden, wrote to the FCC to ask them to investigate a perceived conservative broadcast for Sinclair [Broadcast Group],” he continued. “When the Biden FCC came in, they didn’t renew almost a single license for Sinclair the entire time — that was unprecedented.”

CNBC host Sara Eisen and FCC Chair Brendan Carr during Monday's episode of “Squawk on the Street.”

Getty Images/YouTube.

Claiming that Democrats “pressured cable companies to drop Fox News, OAN and NewsMax,” Carr argued: “You don’t hear about that because a lot of the national news media just runs [for] cover and doesn’t focus any attention or news stories on that.”

“The Democrats massively weaponized the FCC,” he added. “I’m confident if they back in, they’re gonna massively weaponize it again. I don’t think that means we should do the same thing, but let’s at least enforce the public interest standard.”

Elsewhere in the interview, after Eisen questioned if Carr is a “culture warrior” who has “turned the FCC into a political commission,” the chairman responded, “If culture is making sure the laws on the books are enforced, then I guess I’m a culture warrior.”

Carr’s remarks came as Senate Democrats demanded he rescind his order for early license reviews of Disney’s eight owned-and-operated ABC stations, years ahead of their original schedule.

In a letter to Carr earlier this month, Senate Democrats called the review a “blatant effort” to punish Disney for refusing to agree to President Donald Trump’s calls to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who works for ABC, over a joke he made about the president.