In a furious late-night rant on Sunday, President Donald Trump lashed out at major news networks, threatening fines and even calling for them to be taken off the air over what he claims is unfair coverage of him and other conservatives.
“Why is it that ABC and NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the absolute worst and most biased networks anywhere in the World, aren’t paying Millions of Dollars a year in LICENSE FEES,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. “They should lose their Licenses for their unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives, but at a minimum, they should pay up BIG for having the privilege of using the most valuable airwaves anywhere at anytime!!! Crooked ‘journalism’ should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!!!”
In another post, he tore into the networks again, writing, “two of the worst and most biased networks in history,” which “give me 97% BAD STORIES.”
He went on: “IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC. I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!!”
Trump has a long history of attacking the press, but Sunday’s outburst ramped things up. He’s now pushing for government punishment of networks that criticize him—raising alarms among press freedom advocates and media watchdogs.
During his time in office, Trump repeatedly clashed with mainstream media. His FCC chair, Brendan Carr, has also taken shots at the press and recently praised a move by CBS News’ parent company to shift its editorial stance, calling it a push for more “diverse” viewpoints.
But Trump’s latest tirade goes beyond criticism. He’s calling for licenses to be pulled and networks to pay massive fees—all because of coverage he doesn’t like.
