NBC pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air after the FCC came calling last fall.
Now the same playbook is targeting every fake news network running lies about the Iran war.
And what Brendan Carr just told every fake news network in America is something they never thought they'd hear.
Carr Drops the Hammer on Fake News
The networks spent the last week running Iranian propaganda as American news.
Iran – a regime on its last legs, getting decimated by U.S. and Israeli forces – pumped out AI-generated images showing the USS Abraham Lincoln burning in the ocean.
The liberal media ran it.
They knew it was fake.
They ran it anyway.
Trump didn't let it slide.
"The story was knowingly FAKE," the president wrote on Truth Social Saturday.
"Those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information."
Hours later, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr posted his warning directly: "Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not."
https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/2032855414233047172?s=20
Sunday morning, Trump confirmed he's fully behind Carr.
"I am thrilled to see FCC Chairman Brendan Carr looking into the Licenses of corrupt and highly unpatriotic 'news' organizations," he wrote.
"They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES."
This Is Not the First Time They Got Away With It
The liberal media has been running hoaxes since day one of Trump's second term and facing zero consequences.
CBS's 60 Minutes edited a Kamala Harris interview to hide how incoherent she was.
Trump sued.
Paramount – CBS's parent company – eventually settled for $16 million.
https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/2032855414233047172?s=20
ABC's affiliates pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air last September after Carr made clear their licenses were on the line.
The show came back.
The message did not go away.
KCBS in San Francisco reported the locations and vehicle descriptions of ICE agents during an active enforcement operation.
Carr opened a formal investigation.
Management at KCBS immediately demoted the anchor who read the story, killed political coverage for months, and refused to let veteran reporter Doug Sovern interview California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter – because she might say something negative about Trump.
Carr's investigation worked before a single proceeding was completed.
Every one of these networks is borrowing the public airwaves for free.
Federal law has required them to operate in the public interest since 1934.
They have never once taken that obligation seriously.
The Law Is Exactly What Carr Says It Is
The networks are hoping you don't know this.
The FCC has held since 1969 that intentional news distortion violates a broadcaster's public interest obligation.
Licenses are issued by the federal government.
Licenses can be revoked by the federal government.
That is not a threat – that is the Communications Act of 1934.
Renewals for most major broadcast stations come up in 2028.
Network executives who have merger applications pending before the FCC – and that includes Disney, Comcast, and Paramount – are not going to bet their billion-dollar deals on running Iranian AI deepfakes as legitimate war news.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1968473946514198986?s=20
The fake news networks have been running Iranian propaganda that makes American soldiers look like losers in a war they are winning.
The USS Abraham Lincoln was not burning.
It was not even shot at.
Iran knows better than to shoot at it.
The only "battle" Iran is winning is the one the American media is handing them for free.
Brendan Carr just ended that arrangement.
Trump has been saying for years that the networks using public airwaves to push anti-American lies is not a First Amendment right – it is an abuse of a federal license.
The FCC is now acting like it agrees.
The networks spent years betting Trump would never follow through.
They just found out he meant it.
Sources:
- Elizabeth Heckman, "Trump 'thrilled' as FCC chair warns news organizations to correct course or lose licenses," Fox News, March 16, 2026.
- Brendan Carr, post on X, March 15, 2026.
- Donald Trump, post on Truth Social, March 16, 2026.
- "Issue Brief: Can the FCC Strip Broadcasters of Their Licenses Over War Coverage?" Stay Tuned, March 2026.
- "FCC Chair Threatens Broadcast License Revocation Over 'Distorted' Iran War Coverage," South Florida Reporter, March 14, 2026.
- "How an AM radio station in California weathered the Trump administration's assault on media," AP/Lethbridge Herald, December 15, 2025.