FCC Chief Backs Trump's Push to Punish Welker

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said President Donald Trump is "over the target" in demanding punishment for NBC News anchor Kristen Welker, and that the commission is "looking at a lot of actions."

Carr made the comments Sunday on Fox News's "The Sunday Briefing," answering host Peter Doocy's question about Trump's threat to report the "Meet the Press" moderator to the FCC.

The fight started when Welker said Trump had "some mixed results" from his primary endorsements. Trump called that a "purposeful inaccuracy" and said she would be reported to the agency "for rebuke or punishment."

What Carr Said

"I think President Trump is over the target, and we're looking at a lot of actions," Carr told Doocy. He said the FCC "may put guidance out soon to remind broadcasters about their obligations with respect to not airing fake polls, particularly if they're done to suppress people heading into the fall."

Carr argued broadcast television is different from cable because stations "get billions of dollars in taxpayer effectively subsidized distribution, and what they're supposed to do in exchange is operate in the public interest, not some sort of narrow, partisan interest." Many broadcasters, he said, "want to break the deal that they cut with the American people."