FCC Chairman Brendan Carr weighed in on ABC’s The View, after the Trump White House chided co-host Joy Behar for her biting criticism of the president this week.
Appearing on Fox News on Thursday morning, Carr was asked by anchor Bill Hemmer whether “The View is now in the crosshairs of this administration.”
“Look, it’s entirely possible that there’s issues over there. And stepping back, this broader dynamic, once President Trump has exposed these media gatekeepers and smashed this facade, there’s a lot of consequences. I think the consequences of that aren’t quite finished.”
Later, at a press conference following this month’s FCC meeting, Carr was asked what he meant by “consequences” to the show.
Carr said, “Well, look, I do think you see significant lower ratings. If you look at Colbert, the reporting from there was that they were losing $40 to $50 million a year. And I do think there’s a lot of consequences once you sort of expose, as President Trump has, what’s going on with a lot of these institutions. And again, President Trump is reflecting where the American people are. People simply do not trust these institutions anymore. It’s the erosion of trust that undermines the business case for these institutions.”
On Wednesday’s The View, Behar talked of Trump’s claim that his predecessor, Barack Obama, was guilty of treason, accusing his team of cooking the intelligence as a pretext for the Russian interference investigation in 2026. Through a spokesman, Obama called such claims “bizarre” and a “weak attempt at a distraction.”
Behar said, “First of all, who tried to overthrow the government on January 6th? Who was that again? “The thing about him is he is so jealous of Obama, because Obama is everything that he is not. Trim. Smart. Handsome. Happily married. And can sing Al Green’s song ‘Let’s Stay Together’ better than Al Green.”
The White House responded by saying, “Joy Behar is an irrelevant loser suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. It’s no surprise that The View’s ratings hit an all-time low last year. She should self-reflect on her own jealousy of President Trump’s historic popularity before her show is the next to be pulled off air.”
Behar continued her criticisms of Trump on Thursday.
Since he has been FCC chair, Carr has launched an inquiry into the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris, while reviving complaints over Harris’ appearance on Saturday Night Live and the way that ABC News moderated September’s presidential debate. Carr also has launched investigations into Disney and Comcast over their diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
When it comes to news content, the FCC has limited authority given protections of the First Amendment. The Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcast license holders to present differing views on issues of public importance, was eliminated in 1987, during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The FCC does have a news distortion rule, where broadcasters can be subject to enforcement only “if it can be proven that they have deliberately distorted a factual news report.”
The View, though, is a panel show, not a newscast, although it does fall under the ABC News division. Linear television in general has seen ratings erosion as viewing habits shift to streaming.
During his presidency, Trump has sought to undermine or sanction news outlets for content that he dislikes. Last week, he sued Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal over their report about Trump’s connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The story was regarding a letter reportedly sent in Trump’s name to Epstein as part of an album celebrating his 50th birthday in 2003. Trump denied that the letter, with text in the outline of a woman’s nude body, was his.
Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, told reporters that she found it “very rich” that Carr and other Republicans “keep talking about the loss of trust in journalism when this administration has spent the last 10 years sowing distrust in the mainstream media.”
