FCC Democrat warns broadcasters to resist Trump’s media pressure tactics
Democrat Anna Gomez warns broadcasters against yielding to the Trump-era FCC's claims of fake polls and news distortions.
Anna Gomez, the sole Democratic member of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), called on the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to ramp up its response to pressure from the administration of US President Donald Trump on major news networks and broadcast television stations in advance of the midterm elections on November 3.
“I would not be doing my job if I did not say plainly that the volume of that response has not yet matched the scale of what your members are facing,” Gomez said in a four-page letter to the industry group’s CEO and President Curtis LeGeyt on Thursday.
Gomez pointed to a recent assertion by Trump-appointed Brenden Carr, who claimed that administration channels could violate their regulatory obligations by airing “entirely fake polls” before the consequential midterm elections, which may determine which political party controls both houses of the US Congress.
Seth Stern, the chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, criticised Carr’s comments.