The View spent years telling America it was a serious news program that could say whatever it wanted about Donald Trump.
Now Disney is in federal court.
And Disney’s lawyers put something in writing that confirmed why Trump’s FCC shut that operation down.
The Confession Hidden in the Lawsuit
Disney filed a 45-page lawsuit against the FCC this week claiming the Trump administration violated its First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit was supposed to be a counterattack.
It ended up being a confession.
Disney admitted that The View has booked zero political candidates since FCC Chairman Brendan Carr launched an investigation into the show in February.
The investigation started after Democrat Texas Senate candidate James Talarico appeared on the show for nearly ten minutes on February 2.
That triggered the FCC’s equal time rule – the law that says if you put one candidate on your federally licensed broadcast station, their opponents get comparable airtime too.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2089705535234806189?s=20
Disney’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit that the show passed on “further consideration of booking several political candidates” because of the FCC’s pressure.
They also admitted producers stopped airing certain video clips they would have otherwise run in the Hot Topics segment and cold open – specifically because of what Carr’s team might do next.
Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar spent years screaming at Trump supporters every morning.
Now they can’t even run a clip without running it past lawyers first.
What Carr Exposed About The View
Disney wants the public to believe The View is a bona fide news program – the legal classification that exempts shows from the equal time rule.
Carr posted video evidence on X in late July showing exactly what kind of “news” The View actually produces.
The montage showed host after host urging viewers to vote Democrat, attacking Republicans, and celebrating leftist causes with zero pretense of neutrality.
Carr’s point was simple: the FCC granted The View a news exemption back in 2002.
The show it is today bears no resemblance to journalism.
The law requires broadcast licensees to use public airwaves in the public interest – not as a partisan campaign operation.
Disney claimed that exemption and spent two decades weaponizing it while the FCC looked the other way.
https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/2089910548917838121?s=20
Carr stopped looking the other way.
The equal time rule has been on the books since the Communications Act of 1934.
Congress wrote it specifically because broadcasters use public spectrum – not their own private platform – to reach millions of Americans.
Carr has said the FCC spent decades backing away from enforcing those laws, and the result was a news media that openly campaigns for Democrats while hiding behind regulatory exemptions Congress never intended as a shield for partisan programming.
The Chilling Effect Disney Created Itself
Disney’s lawsuit claims the FCC is creating a chilling effect on free speech.
Here is what actually happened.
The View booked a Democrat Senate candidate for a ten-minute interview.
It did not offer his primary opponent comparable time.
That violated federal law.
The FCC enforced federal law.
Disney responded by canceling political bookings entirely rather than follow the rule.
That is not the FCC silencing The View.
That is Disney choosing to silence The View rather than give Republicans airtime.
The View’s hosts could still invite politicians on tomorrow – they just have to follow the same rules every other broadcaster is required to follow.
They chose not to, because the whole point of The View was always one-sided partisan programming dressed up as news.
Carr told Fox News the lawsuit was “meritless” and that the FCC will “follow the facts and the law wherever it takes us.”
Trump Won Without Pulling a Single License
Disney’s lawsuit asks a federal court to immediately stop the FCC’s early license renewal proceedings for eight major ABC markets.
Those licenses weren’t due for renewal until 2028 at the earliest.
The FCC moved them up as part of its investigation into Disney’s DEI practices and The View’s equal time violations.
Disney paid $15 million to settle Trump’s defamation case in December 2024, before his inauguration.
That was supposed to make this go away.
It didn’t.
Every other major media company – Paramount, Meta, X, Google – quietly settled with Trump and moved on.
Disney decided to fight instead.
That fight starts with a 45-page lawsuit that already admitted the FCC’s strategy worked.
The View went dark on political candidates the moment Carr’s investigators came knocking.
Trump’s FCC didn’t need to revoke a single license to change what goes out over America’s public airwaves – and that’s the part Disney’s lawyers can’t explain away in court.
Sources:
- Joseph A. Wulfsohn, “ABC more cautious of booking candidates on ‘The View’ amid FCC pressure, Disney’s First Amendment lawsuit says,” Fox News, August 18, 2026.
- “Disney sues Trump’s FCC over ‘retaliatory campaign’ against ABC,” CNN Business, August 18, 2026.
- “Disney Sues FCC for ‘Retaliatory’ Investigation of ABC,” Reason, August 18, 2026.
- “ABC sues FCC over challenge to its broadcast licenses, saying actions present ‘existential threat’,” KSAT/AP, August 18, 2026.
- Brendan Carr, X post on The View’s bona fide news status, July 30, 2026.
- “Watch: FCC’s Brendan Carr Exposes Disney’s ‘The View’ Repeatedly Urging Its Audience to ‘Vote Democrat in November’,” Breitbart, July 31, 2026.