WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump declared negative media coverage illegal while defending FCC actions that have sparked national free speech concerns.
Trump criticised US media outlets for transforming positive stories into negative coverage during an Oval Office press gathering.
The president specifically targeted television networks while repeating his claim that 97% of coverage about his administration remains negative.
He praised Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr as an incredible American patriot with courage.
Carr had threatened broadcasters with sanctions over Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
ABC suspended Kimmel’s show indefinitely hours after Carr’s regulatory threats emerged.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz expressed concern about government officials determining acceptable speech content.
Cruz compared Carr’s license threat tactics to mafioso intimidation from the film Goodfellas.
Trump’s own anti-media efforts suffered a setback when a federal judge dismissed his $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times.
The judge issued a scathing ruling against the president’s defamation case against the newspaper. – AFP
