FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr confirmed Wednesday that he has begun enforcement proceedings over what the commission claims is equal time rule violations involving political candidates by ABC’s daytime show The View.
Kerr appeared on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” and slammed Stephen Colbert and CBS’ “The Late Show” over the controversy surrounding his on-air interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico on Monday and Tuesday.
Mr. Kerr has issued public statements in recent weeks that appear to be intended to signal to broadcast networks that the FCC plans to enforce equal-time rules related to political candidates for programs that have historically been exempted from the rules because they resemble newscasts. News programs are not bound by rules that require networks to give equal airtime to leading political candidates in the run-up to elections. “The View” is known for timely conversations about “hot topics,” in the show’s parlance. Produced by ABC News.
“If it’s true news, there’s no need to give equal airtime to candidates,” Carr told Ingraham. “However, Disney and ‘The View’ have not proven that their programming is, in fact, real news. We have reviewed that and have begun enforcement proceedings. And once again, we will hold the broadcaster accountable.”
A representative for “The View” declined to comment. The investigation into Carr appears to have been triggered by Talarico’s appearance on the show on February 2nd.
As usual, Carr praised President Donald Trump for his leadership in attacking the news media. “Gone are the days when these traditional media outlets could dictate what we can say, what we can think, and who we can vote for. I think President Trump has played an important role in breaking through the façade that they can still determine the narrative here,” Carr said.
Kerr then turned to the controversy that erupted Monday night when Stephen Colbert told viewers that CBS had blocked him from airing an interview segment with Talarico because of Kerr’s comments about late night shows and equal time rules. CBS denied on Tuesday that it had made such a decision in light of Kerr’s new interpretation of the equal time rule, and denied that it had merely advised the producers of “The Late Show” of legal guidelines in light of Kerr’s new interpretation.
Carr used CBS’ rejection to harshly criticize Colbert and the Democratic Party in general.
“President Trump was ahead of the curve on many issues, including the economy and border security, and was perhaps unique in criticizing legacy media as fake news. And yesterday, the American people saw it on full display. That’s why today people have more trust and confidence in gas station sushi than in legacy news media. This was Democrat-on-Democrat violence,” Kerr said.
Mr. Kerr pointed to the fact that Mr. Talarico’s campaign received a surge of attention from Colbert’s campaign, resulting in more than $2 million in contributions to Mr. Talarico’s campaign. Carr said without evidence that the dust was created to benefit Talarico. “This was all about political candidates trying to get attention and clicks, and the news media treated it like lemmings. They just ate it up.”
