Trump calls ABC 'dishonest' and 'unfair' during fact-checking debate

In the latest attack on former President Donald Trump’s media, he said fact-checking by ABC moderators was “unfair” and the network should lose its broadcast license.

Former President Donald Trump called ABC “dishonest” for the way its moderators handled Tuesday night’s presidential debate and said ABC should be punished.

During an appearance Wednesday morning on “Fox & Friends,” Trump called the “unfair debate” a “rigged deal” and suggested that ABC moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir had only fact-checked him, essentially siding with Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It was three on one,” he said.

After the debate, Trump had already posted on his social media site, Truth Social, a complaint that the moderators had been biased against him, making the contest a “three-to-one.”

Most polls had Harris ahead, but the former president said his campaign had polls showing him winning “80 to 20.” Still, Trump said Thursday he would not debate Harris again.

As for ABC, Trump added on “Fox and Friends”: “To be honest, it’s a news organization, it needs to be licensed. They should take away their license for the way they did it.”

Donald Trump: Georgia judge drops two charges against former president in election racketeering case; eight remain pending

This is not the first time Trump has threatened television networks, although ABC has been a frequent target of his attacks, noted journalist Dominick Mastrangelo of The Hill news site.

Earlier this year, Trump said of CNN and NBC, “Frankly, they should have their licenses or whatever they took away,” when the networks chose not to air his live remarks after he won the Iowa caucuses, wrote Steve Benen, editor-in-chief of MaddowBlog on MSNBC.com.

Benen also noted that as president, Trump had written on social media in 2017: “With all the fake news coming out of NBC and the networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their license? Bad for the country!” Those comments came after NBC reported that Trump wanted to increase the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Last year, Trump posted on Truth Social that Comcast, the parent company of NBC and MSNBC, should be investigated because “the networks’ endless coverage of the now fully debunked scam known as Russia, Russia, Russia and many others, is a major campaign contribution to the radical left Democratic Party.”

CBS was also targeted by Trump on Truth Social for a “60 Minutes” interview with President Biden in October 2023. “Why should CBS get free public airwaves for this highly partisan ‘show’?” he posted.

Trump’s attacks should be alarming because cracking down on the free press is a “key and radical element” of his “authoritarian-style vision and agenda,” Benen writes.

FCC Chairman: Agency Doesn’t Revoke Licenses When Applicant ‘Don’t Like the Content’

The Federal Communications Commission doesn’t license major broadcast networks like ABC, but it does license some local stations, Mastrangelo said. The channels were originally assigned to broadcasters, but over the decades they were sold and traded for digital channels.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told the Washington Post in a statement that the agency “does not revoke broadcast station licenses simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes the content or coverage.”

However, political observers have warned that Trump’s attacks on the media could lead to violence against journalists, Mastrangelo said.

“The entire media — and anyone who cares about free speech — should take this as a warning of what could happen in a second Trump term,” The New Republic said.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

What is everyone talking about? Subscribe to our trending newsletter to receive the latest news of the day