He has said similar things before:Missing of course thanks to the stupidity of Dementia J. Trump is:
— Keith Olbermann's X Ghost⌚️ (@KeithOlbermann) November 29, 2023
A) msnbc doesn't use "FREE government approved airwaves." It's cable. That's different, Grandpa
B) however IF Trump DOJ could "come down hard" on msnbc, BIDEN'S DOJ COULD DO THAT NOW TO FOX NEWS ✅ pic.twitter.com/LOiv21jm51
At the time of the earlier threat. Politico reported:With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017
It’s unclear exactly how Trump could directly challenge a media outlet’s broadcasting license, if he chose to follow through on his veiled threat.
The FCC, an independent federal agency, issues broadcast licenses to stations and oversees license holders. It does not license networks. NBC is owned by Comcast, which holds broadcast licenses for several stations. NBC also airs on affiliate stations owned by other companies.
Local residents or competitors can file a challenge to a station’s license renewal, but the basis for such a challenge is extremely limited — it must be a case where the station systematically violated the FCC’s rules or lacked the requisite “character” to hold the license. That is usually defined as a felony conviction, said Andrew Schwartzman, a communications lawyer with the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center.
“It’s an empty threat. The last thing that NBC is going to worry about is whether its broadcast licenses are in jeopardy,” Schwartzman said.
