WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday that NBC's Kristen Welker will be reported to the Federal Communications Commission for "rebuke or punishment," after she noted that the Republican president's success in endorsing political candidates has been mixed.
Trump's comments are the latest in an aggressive series of attacks he has leveled on the news media. He has repeatedly urged broadcasters to drop comedy or news programs he dislikes or which have been critical of him or his administration, and he has also called on the FCC to take action.
"Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment," Trump wrote of Welker in the Sunday post. "Unfortunately, she is not the only one."
Asked to comment on Trump's post, an NBC spokesperson said: "Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her."
In a separate post on Sunday, Trump said, "THE FAKE POLLS USED BY OUR CROOKED MEDIA ARE OUT OF CONTROL, AND SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT IT. FCC TO THE RESCUE!"
U.S. broadcasters have broad free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, and the FCC has limited power in dealing with complaints about their content. The FCC on its website says it generally will not intervene in such cases because "it would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace the journalistic judgment of licensees with our own."
ABC and its parent company Disney sued the FCC earlier this month to block an early review of licenses for eight ABC stations, arguing that the Trump administration is trying to punish the network over its broadcast content. Trump has pressed the FCC on numerous occasions to revoke ABC's licenses.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, ordered the reviews in April, even though the stations' license renewals were not scheduled to be considered before 2028. Prior to that, the FCC had not ordered an early review in more than 50 years.
The FCC is also investigating NBC-parent Comcast's relationships with its local broadcast TV affiliates, the latest in a series of probes into major U.S. broadcasters.
Broadcast stations need FCC licenses to use public airwaves. While license revocations are extremely rare, critics say the threat of losing a license can pressure broadcasters and raise concerns about government interference in editorial and programming decisions.
Trump has notched several prominent endorsement victories this year, including wins by Darline Graham in the Republican primary runoff in South Carolina for U.S. Senate and Mike Mazzei in the Republican nominating race for governor of Oklahoma.
But with polls showing he continues to be weighed down by rising consumer prices and an unpopular war with Iran, Trump has suffered some recent setbacks, including in Iowa, Georgia, Wyoming and Minnesota, where his preferred candidates lost Republican primaries for governor.
