Senate Republican rebukes Carr’s threats to revoke broadcast licenses over Iran coverage

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Sunday rebuked Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr’s threats to revoke broadcasters’ licenses over TV networks’ news coverage.

“I am a big supporter of the First Amendment,” Johnson said on Fox News’s “Fox News Sunday.” “I do not like the heavy-handed government, no matter who is wielding it … I would rather the federal government stay out of the private sector as much as possible.”

“The federal government’s role is to protect our freedoms — protect our constitutional rights,” the Wisconsin Republican added.

Carr is facing backlash after he said Saturday that news outlets’ broadcast licenses could be revoked, as President Trump has criticized the media coverage of the conflict in Iran. 

“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions — also known as the fake news — have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote in a post on the social platform X.

“The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not,” he warned.

Carr’s post included a screenshot of Trump’s earlier Truth Social post about “fake news” and legacy media outlets’ coverage of the conflict with Iran, which entered a third week on Saturday.

Several Democrats quickly slammed Carr’s warning.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called it “straight out of the authoritarian playbook.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) claimed in a post on X that it was “flagrantly unconstitutional,” and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) called it an “overreach by the FCC.”

“A truly extraordinary moment,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote on X. “We aren’t on the verge of a totalitarian takeover. WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. Act like it.”

Carr’s threat also came just one day after the White House blasted CNN for a report stating that the Trump administration had underestimated the impact of the war with Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supply flows daily.

CNN Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson defended the outlet’s coverage in a statement, saying the network “stand[s] by our journalism.”

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