Brendan Carr, who is set to become FCC chairman when Donald Trump retakes office in January, said a news distortion complaint against CBS is “likely to arise” when the commission reviews the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance.
Carr made the comment on Tuesday morning during an interview on Fox News.
His update came after President-elect Trump complained that CBS and “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris last month — a move CBS should lose its license over, Trump suggested. He called the edits “election interference” and the “worst” example of media manipulation he had ever seen during his October interview with Joe Rogan. Soon after, Trump sued CBS for $10 billion for “deceptive doctoring” of said interview.
On Tuesday, Carr said broadcasters like CBS get “free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves” and are licensed by the FCC; in exchange, “they have to serve the public interest.” He also said it’s worth taking “another look” at that when it comes to CBS.
“There’s also a news distortion complaint at the FCC still, having to do with CBS and CBS has a transaction before the FCC, and I’m pretty confident that that news distortion complaint over the CBS ’60 Minutes’ transcript is something that is likely to arise in the context of the FCC’s review of that transaction,” Carr told Fox News.
He was referring to the news distortion complaint filed by the Center for American Rights last month with the FCC over the CBS-Harris interview. Trump initially criticized “60 Minutes” in early October for editing Harris’ answer to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war in Gaza.
The vice president’s original answer, which you can read below, circulated on X a day before her full “60 Minutes” interview aired on Oct. 7. You can also read the edited answer CBS used in the show.
Original: “Well Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”
Edited: “We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States, to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
Trump has skewered CBS several times since then. A few days after Harris’ interview, he called “60 Minutes” a “fake news scam” and called on the FCC to “take away the CBS license.”
Current FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel criticized Trump in response, saying his comments were “threats against free speech.” CBS News has also pushed back against Trump. The newsroom denied Trump’s allegations that it deceptively edited the Harris interview.
Paramount Global sold to Skydance Media in an $8 billion deal in July. The deal is currently being reviewed by regulators.
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