President Donald Trump has doubled down on his threats that NBC and ABC are the next targets for FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, taking aim at one host in particular.
Trump, 79, personally hit out at Rev. Al Sharpton, 71, on Truth Social on Sunday. The motivation for the swipe was unclear, but the president had been criticized earlier that day on Sharpton’s MSNBC show PoliticsNation.
Sharpton’s guest, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, said Trump’s use of the National Guard in Portland was “reckless and illegal” and “should strike fear in every American.”
“I knew Al Sharpton for many years, not that it matters, but he was a major “TRUMP” fan,” the president wrote, using a vintage picture of Sharpton, who has since lost considerable weight.
“He’d ask me to go to his fake Rallies all the time, because I brought BIG Crowds, and he couldn’t get anybody to come without me.”
Trump then attacked Brian Roberts, the billionaire CEO of Comcast, the parent company of NBC, claiming he gave Sharpton the hosting job on “one of the Lowest Rated Shows in Television History.”
Sharpton has hosted the show since 2011, with ratings in August peaking at around 450,000 viewers.
“Roberts is afraid to take him off because it wouldn’t be “Politically Correct,” Trump claimed.
“This is just one of the many reasons that the Federal Communications Commission should look into the license of NBC, which shows almost exclusively positive Democrat content.”
He added, “Likewise, ABC Fake News — About the same thing, 97% negative to Republicans!"
The Daily Beast has contacted Sharpton’s office, NBC, ABC, and the FCC for comment.
In June last year, Sharpton told MSNBC he had known Trump for 35 years.
“I’ve never seen a Black employee in Trump’s office, not one,” Sharpton said. “I used to say, going up Trump Towers is like going up the Rocky Mountains. The higher you got, the whiter it got.”
Trump previously flagged Carr, whom he personally appointed to his FCC role, to investigate ABC and NBC coverage in another angry Sunday night Truth Social post.
He called them “two of the worst and most biased networks in history” in August and said “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,” Trump added, calling them “an actual threat to our Democracy!!!”
The following month, Carr called out ABC talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for comments about the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
The FCC chair said Kimmel’s remarks constituted “the sickest conduct possible,” which led to Jimmy Kimmel Live! being temporarily pulled.
Trump celebrated after the brief removal of Kimmel’s show, posting on Truth Social, “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
Kimmel returned to air on Sept. 23 after less than a week off-air.
During that show, Kimmel addressed Trump seemingly threatening to sue ABC for bringing the show back. The president claimed that Kimmel “puts the network in trouble” and added, “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this.”
“You hear that? There’s the threat again,” Kimmel said. “This time, straight from FCC Biscuit’s mouth.”
