Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Brendan Carr did not address a social media post by President Trump demanding Comcast be forced to pay “vast sums” to the federal government when asked repeatedly about the post on Thursday.
While appearing at a media summit hosted by the news outlet Semafor, Carr said he had not seen the social media post in question, which the president made over the weekend celebrating the cancellation of MSNBC host Joy Reid’s program.
“This whole corrupt operation is nothing more than an illegal arm of the Democrat Party,” Trump wrote of Comcast, NBC Universal’s parent company. “They should be forced to pay vast sums of money for the damage they’ve done to our Country. Fake News is an UNPARDONABLE SIN!”
Ben Smith, Semafor’s editor in chief, asked Carr about the post, paraphrasing the president’s comments and asking if that was “an FCC issue.”
“If I could see the quote, I’d look at it,” Carr responded.
“You didn’t see it,” Smith pressed Carr. “It wasn’t directed at you?”
“If it was, I didn’t see it” Carr said.
“How does the president communicate with you?” Smith asked, adding that he was “surprised that a Truth Social post on the subject of media regulation didn’t make it your way.”
“It’s pretty standard practice. We’ve had the Biden White House dealing with the FCC and the the Trump White House in the years before. We have procedures and that’s what we’re following,” Carr said.
“You’re not just refreshing Truth Social,” Smith joked.
“I do refresh Truth Social,” Carr said.
“Well you missed a great one,” Smith joked before ending the conversation.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Comcast over what he says is unfair coverage of him and threatened to use the power of the federal government to crack down on major broadcasters.
Carr during the Thursday interview said he is committed to making sure “everyone gets a fair shake” from the FCC and separately blasted social media companies he said worked in tandem with previous administrations to achieve a partisan agenda.
The chairman earlier this month penned a letter to the leadership at Comcast, saying he plans to launch an investigation into the massive media conglomerates policies on diversity, equity and inclusion.