The Federal Communications Commission has confirmed an “enforcement action” is underway against ABC’s “The View” after the talk show featured James Talarico, a Democratic Texas representative running for U.S. Senate.
“We’re taking a look at it,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told reporters on Wednesday, without providing specifics.
His comments came nearly two weeks after an FCC source told Fox News that “The View” was under investigation for potential violations of the “equal time rule,” designed to limit one-sided political coverage on broadcast TV. The rule, part of the Communications Act of 1934, calls for broadcast (non-cable) networks that feature political candidates to offer comparable airtime to their rivals.
While historically the policy has not been strictly enforced, the FCC announced a crackdown on Jan. 21, specifically citing concerns over daytime and late-night talk shows on ABC, NBC and CBS.
The agency said exemptions can be granted for what it describes as “bona fide” news programming that is “not motivated by partisan purposes” or “designed for the specific
advantage of a candidate.”
The federal inquiry into “The View” was said to have been triggered by a Feb. 2 appearance by Talarico, one of the first politicians to appear on the show since the FCC announced its enforcement of the rule. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat who’s running against him for the Senate seat, has also recently appeared on “The View” — though prior to that announcement.
However, ABC has seemingly not provided equal airtime to their Republican rivals, and reportedly filed no exemption petition regarding Talarico’s interview.
Appearing on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Wednesday, Carr said ABC had not established the “The View” as being “bona fide news,” so it’s not exempt from the equal time rule.
“We’ve started enforcement proceedings, taking a look at that,” Carr told Ingraham. “And, again, we’re going to hold broadcasters accountable.”
ABC has not yet commented on the FCC’s investigation into “The View.”
Carr’s comments came just days after Stephen Colbert said he was blocked from airing his interview with Talarico for similar equal time reasons. It was later published on YouTube, where the FCC has no influence.
CBS later denied pulling the plug on the interview, claiming instead the network had only “provided legal guidance” to the “Late Show” regarding the FCC’s guidelines.
Carr on Wednesday told reporters he was “highly entertained” by the drama, adding that “it was one of the most fun days I’ve had in the job, watching the hilarity of how this story played out.”
“Anybody that’s not suffering from a terminal case of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ could see right away the exact story arc,” Carr said. “You had a Democrat candidate who understood the way the news media works, and he took advantage of all of your sort of prior conceptions to run a hoax, apparently, for the purpose of raising money and getting clicks, and the news media played right into it.”
