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Several conservative organizations asked the Federal Communications Commission last week to end its investigation into CBS over a seemingly baseless complaint that the network wrongly altered an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris during last year’s presidential campaign.
President Donald Trump has accused “60 Minutes” of running defense for the Harris campaign with selective editing. CBS has denied the allegation, and it said earlier this month that the complaint, brought by the conservative nonprofit Center for American Rights, “punishes specific editorial decisions that are an essential part of producing news programming.” (It’s worth noting that Fox News edited some of its footage to shorten Trump’s rambling, false answers during a campaign Q&A event in October.)
The CBS complaint was dismissed in January by then-outgoing FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who warned the complaints sought to "weaponize the licensing authority of the FCC in a way that is fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment.” But Trump’s handpicked FCC chairman, Project 2025 co-author Brendan Carr, revived the complaint when he was tapped for the post — and now some conservatives seem to be in line with Carr’s predecessor in thinking the complaint should be dropped.
The Center for Individual Freedom, Americans for Tax Reform, Taxpayers Protection Alliance and other groups called on FCC Chair Brendan Carr to end the investigation into the unit of Paramount Global, saying an “adverse ruling against CBS would constitute regulatory overreach and advance precedent that can be weaponized by future FCCs.”
Although the request puts the groups at odds with Carr, it still includes some MAGA talking points. For example, the groups say they “understand and appreciate why many conservatives would seek to now ‘level the playing field’ and subject other media organizations — such as CBS’s parent company Paramount — to the same regulatory cudgel that has long afflicted conservative media.”
But the message was clear: These groups are fearful of the Trump administration taking action against CBS in this case (perhaps because they, too, see the baselessness in it) and don’t want conservative media outlets to be on the receiving end of such treatment if and when the executive branch is controlled by the Democratic Party again.
Carr, for the record, doesn’t appear to share their worries. In a statement to Reuters, he vowed to continue this illiberal stunt.
“The FCC’s review of the complaint against CBS remains active and ongoing,” he told Reuters. Ever since he was appointed, Carr has treated his position as a weapon to be wielded in Trump's war against the free press. He opened investigations into NPR and PBS, two media outlets reviled by Republicans. And just last week, he threatened to kill corporate mergers involving companies that have policies promoting diversity.