FCC chair rejects Trump’s call to revoke CBS license over Harris interview edit

Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel rejected former President Donald Trump’s call to revoke CBS’s broadcast license on Thursday, calling it a familiar threat that “should not be ignored.”

Trump called for the license to be revoked after the network shared two different edits of a recent 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump criticized the interview as “a giant Fake News Scam” in a Truth Social post on Thursday and claimed the network replaced her answer on a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “in order to save her or, at least, make her look better.”

Trump shared a compilation of two versions of Harris’ answer to the question, with one labeled “actual answer” and the other labeled “edited answer,” even though both were shared by CBS. One was shared by the 60 Minutes X account in a teaser, while the other depicts a version that appeared in CBS’s transcript of the full interview. CBS did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.

“TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE,” he added. “Election Interference.”

“While repeated attacks against broadcast stations by the former President may now be familiar, these threats against free speech are serious and should not be ignored,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “As I’ve said before, the First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy. The FCC does not and will not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.”

If this sounds familiar, it’s because Rosenworcel rejected a similar call from Trump in September. That time, Trump objected to ABC’s moderation and fact-checking of the presidential debate.