Over the weekend, Donald Trump fumed on Truth Social about newspapers covering attacks on US tanker aircrafts in Saudi Arabia. Within hours, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr reposted Trump’s rant and vowed to revoke the licenses of broadcasters who air what he called “fake news”. For some extra brownie points, Carr tossed in a line about Trump’s “landslide election victory”, too.

Early on Monday, Trump completed the sycophantic cycle with a second post announcing that he’s “thrilled” by Carr’s threats and accusing unnamed media outlets of “treason” and a lack of patriotism for reporting on AI fakes linked to Iran. (It’s not clear what Trump was referring to, since the media has regularly reported on those fakes to debunk them.)

Carr’s threats make no sense under the law, and he knows they’re wrong. But that’s never stopped him before. Carr has attacked late night comedians, talk shows, major networks, public broadcasters, and radio stations, while purging the word “independent” from the FCC website. His message is clear: displease Trump, and the FCC will make you pay a price. Every single time Carr has deemed a news report “distortion” or a comedic wisecrack outside the “public interest”, it’s been something that nettles the man whose face is on his lapel pin, Donald Trump.

But just because the threats are legally........

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