ABC filed a strongly worded brief with the Federal Communications Commission on Friday, accusing the Trump administration of attempting to suppress constitutionally protected speech through a regulatory challenge centered on the popular daytime program "The View."
The filing, made public Friday, was technically tied to a dispute involving KTRK-TV, an ABC-owned station in Houston. But the language in the document made clear that ABC was staking out a broader position in what has become an ongoing conflict between major media organizations and the White House.
"The Commission's actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to The View and more broadly," said the filing on behalf of both KTRK-TV and ABC.
At the center of the dispute is whether "The View" qualifies as a bona fide news program and is therefore exempt from the FCC's equal time rules, which require broadcasters to offer competing political candidates equal airtime. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, appointed by Trump, has signaled his intent to argue that the show does not meet that standard. The question matters because "The View," which blends political interviews and entertainment with commentary frequently critical of Trump, has operated under a bona fide news exemption granted more than 20 years ago.
ABC's filing argued that the show had been "broadcasting under a bona fide news exemption granted to it more than twenty years ago, consistent with longstanding Commission interpretations designed to minimize the serious First Amendment problems inherent in the equal time regime." The network also argued that the equal time doctrine, developed decades ago, was poorly suited to today's media environment, where broadcast television represents only a fraction of the sources through which Americans get political information.
The FCC responded by email to the Associated Press, saying that the equal time law "encourages more speech and empowers voters to decide the outcome of elections," and that it would review whether "The View" qualifies for a news exemption.
The ABC filing is one of several legal and regulatory confrontations now running between major news organizations and the Trump White House. Among the others: a dispute between the Pentagon and The New York Times over press access; a clash between the White House and the Associated Press over how to refer to the Gulf of Mexico; and Trump's public anger at The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on Jeffrey Epstein.
The FCC's review of "The View's" status is ongoing, with no ruling date announced.
