00:00He is turning the Federal Communications Commission into the Federal Censorship Commission.
00:04It's a betrayal of the FCC's mission. You should resign, Mr. Chairman.
00:08You are creating a chilling effect. Chairman Carr, you are not reinvigorating the public
00:13interest standard. You are weaponizing the public interest standard.
00:18That is what the Carr FCC is doing every single day.
00:23And here's what you said. In September of 2025, as the chairman of the FCC,
00:28we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways
00:33to change conduct.
00:35Or take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work
00:40for the FCC ahead.
00:43Now, that statement was roundly condemned across the political spectrum.
00:46Chairman Cruz called it dangerous as hell. Chairman Carr, do you regret
00:50making that statement? Yes or no?
00:54Chairman Carr, you are not reinvigorating the public interest standard.
00:59You are weaponizing the public interest standard.
01:03That is what the Carr FCC is doing every single day.
01:09Behind me are your past tweets declaring your commitment to the First Amendment.
01:13You even defended political satire, saying in 2022, it challenges those in power.
01:19And that's why people in influential positions have always targeted it for censorship.
01:25That's why your threats against ABC and Disney over Jimmy Kimmel's political monologue
01:31were so outrageous. And here's what you said.
01:34In September of 2025, as the chairman of the FCC, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.
01:43These companies can find ways to change conduct.
01:46Or take action, frankly, on Kimmel.
01:50Or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.
01:54Now that statement was roundly condemned across the political spectrum.
01:58Chairman Cruz called it dangerous as hell. Chairman Carr, do you regret making that statement?
02:03Yes or no?
02:06Senator Markey, thank you for the question.
02:08My job is to enforce the law as passed by Congress that includes a public interest standard.
02:13And broadcast TV is fundamentally different than any other media.
02:17We have a news distortion rule.
02:18You regret making that statement?
02:20Senator, my job is to enforce the law.
02:22So you don't regret making that statement?
02:25Well, that's a refusal to take accountability for your language, for your use, your abuse.
02:32You're at abuse of power.
02:35You will not say that you made a mistake.
02:38For example, in your response to my oversight letter in September on the Kimmel incident,
02:44you repeatedly stated that the media companies made their own decisions in preempting and suspending Kimmel.
02:51You seem to think that your words, most powerful communications regulator in America, especially your threats don't matter.
03:00So just to be clear, your position is that your mafia threats had nothing to do with Nexstar and Sinclair and Disney's decisions to preempt and suspend Kimmel.
03:13Is that your position? Is that your point that you had nothing to do with the suspension of Kimmel?
03:20Senator, you look at the evidence, the express statements by every single company involved from Nexstar to Sinclair to Disney as recently as last week is that they made these business decisions on their own.
03:31The record is clear on this.
03:33And again, you're refusing to take accountability for your own words. You intimidate the companies.
03:40They do what you want.
03:42And then you say, well, it was up to them. You're the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
03:47Actually, you're now the chairman of the Federal Censorship Commission.
03:51And these broadcasts, they feel that censorship, your broad authority over the media industry, especially broadcasters, your words and actions matter.
04:02Now I'm going to give you another chance to take accountability for your actions in 2022.
04:07You said, quote, a newsroom's decision about what stories to cover and how to frame them should be beyond the reach of any government official not targeted by them by government officials.
04:20Do you stand by that statement?
04:23This was a letter written by Senate, I'm sorry, House Democrats to cable companies pressuring them to drop Fox News, OAN and Newsmax simply because those Democrats thought they were right wing.
04:36So do you stand by your statement?
04:37Do you stand by your statement?
04:38Yes, I do.
04:39I think that's inappropriate what the Democrats did there.
04:41Okay, good.
04:42I just want to get your own views out here on the record for people to hear.
04:46So in February, under your leadership, the Federal Communications Commission opened an investigation into a San Francisco radio station over its coverage of a federal immigration raid.
04:59FCC investigation is a big deal for a local station.
05:03In a worst case scenario, the FCC could shut down the station by revoking its license.
05:08In fact, you have repeatedly suggested over the past year that the FCC could revoke station licenses. Yet this investigation was based solely on the news content of the radio stations coverage of an immigration raid.
05:24I have the entire news statement that they put out that day. This happens every day everywhere across the country for broadcast journalists.
05:33This investigation was based solely on this very brief statement that is an everyday coverage and I have that transcript and the anchor was literally reporting on the information that was released by the mayor by the local city council member and a community group.
05:52So you're telling me that reporting on statements from public officials and a community group is grounds for an FCC investigation.
05:59So the concern there in the report was that there may have been interference with lawful ice operations. And so we were asking questions about what happened. This is a period of time. Remember when ice agents were being attacked, their locations under look undercover locations were being disclosed.
06:15There is nothing in here that discloses anything. There's no risk to anyone except they can provide that to us. No, no, the risk that you are. It's posed here is to you to the broadcast journalist coverage.
06:28That's what really happened. The news journalists were just covering an important news story and some conservatives were upset by the coverage. So you use your power as FCC chair to hang a sort of Damocles over a local radio station's head. And that's the
06:45And that's precisely what you warned about in 2022, the government targeting a newsroom's editorial decision. Well, guess what happened? The station demoted the anchor who first read that news report over the air and pulled back on his political coverage. You got what you wanted.
07:01One former journalist at the station said chilling effect does not begin to describe the neutering of our political coverage. That's what you wanted. That's what you got, but it affected stations everywhere. So just let me say again, the neutering of our political coverage.
07:19This is government censorship, plain and simple. Was it a mistake in retrospect for you to say that to be in instigate a investigation of that San Francisco radio station? Was that a mistake?
07:28Senator broadcasters understand perhaps the first time in years that they're going to be held accountable to the public interest to broadcast hoax rules to the news distortion policy. I think that's a good thing. I don't have a poster board. But listen, in 2018, you signed this letter, right?
07:43You signed a letter to the FCC asking us to investigate Sinclair's news activities. You said investigate Sinclair's news activities. And you know what happened after that? Over 227 licenses were up for renewal or due during the past year.
08:02None of them renewed after your letter, your letter produced.
08:08Madam chair. Well, you're well over your time here. So a lot of it is because. Well, no, it's not because I looked at the clock and you're already two minutes over.
08:15All right. So I'll just finish, Madam Chair. He is turning the Federal Communications Commission into the Federal Censorship Commission. It's a betrayal of the FCC's mission. You should resign, Mr. Chairman. You are creating a chilling effect.
08:26I would ask you to investigate Sinclair's news activities. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Do you regret Sinclair's letter asking us to investigate Sinclair's news activities?
08:33Thank you. Thank you. Do you regret Sinclair's letter asking us to investigate Sinclair's news activities?
08:35Please stand, Chairman Carr. We'll move to the next question. Senator Sullivan.
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