FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel ripped Donald Trump for his “threats against free speech,” after the Republican presidential nominee lambasted CBS for editing an answer from Kamala Harris on “60 Minutes” earlier in the week.
“While repeated attacks against broadcast stations by the former president may now be familiar, these threats against free speech are serious and should not be ignored,” Rosenworcel said in a statement on Thursday.
“As I’ve said before, the First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy. The FCC does not and will not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.”
Rosenworcel’s rebuke came just hours after Trump called on the FCC to “take away the CBS license” for its “fake news scam” of an interview with Harris.
Trump skewered the network and news program for editing Harris’ answer to a question from Bill Whitaker about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war in Gaza.
The vice president’s original answer, which you can read below, circulated on X on Sunday, a day before before her full “60 Minutes” interview was aired. You can also read the edited answer CBS used in the show.
Original: “Well Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”
Edited: “We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States, to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
Trump wasn’t a fan of the edit, posting on Thursday that Harris’ “real answer was crazy, or dumb, so they actually replaced it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, make her look better.”
This wasn’t the first time Rosenworcel and Trump have done this back-and-forth. Last month, Rosenworcel — who was appointed to the FCC in 2012 by Barack Obama, nominated for an additional term by Trump in 2017, and named chairwoman by Joe Biden in 2021 — made a similar statement after Trump criticized ABC News following its presidential debate.
“’60 Minutes’ is a major part of the News Organization of CBS, which has just created the Greatest Fraud in Broadcast History. CBS should lose its license, and it should be bid out to the Highest Bidder, as should all other Broadcast Licenses, because they are just as corrupt as CBS—and maybe even WORSE!,” Trump said.
On Thursday night, after Rosenworcel’s latest critique, Trump reiterated his stance that “CBS should lose is license” on X because it had “just created the Greatest Fraud in Broadcast History.”
Trump was originally scheduled to participate in his own “60 Minutes” interview but he backed out. CBS said his campaign had “shifting explanations” for why he canceled.
