The Standing

A daily, non-partisan record of US democratic norms — and the events that erode them.

    FCC Chair Carr boasts at CPAC that Trump is 'winning' against the 'fake news media'

    At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas on March 27, 2026, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr declared that President Trump "is winning" his fight against the "fake news media," citing the defunding of PBS and NPR, the departures of named journalists and hosts, and ownership changes at CBS and CNN as "results." Carr added the administration was "not at the point yet" of "raising the mission accomplished flag," a week after he had warned broadcasters they would "lose their licenses" over Iran War coverage he called "hoaxes and news distortions."

    Jurisdiction
    federal
    Location
    Grapevine, Texas

    Abuses documented

    Actors

    • Brendan Carr (FCC Chairman)

    On March 27, 2026, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas, and presented the administration's confrontation with the press as a scoreboard of government victories. "President Trump took on the fake news media, and President Trump is winning," Carr said. "Look at the results, so far. PBS defunded. NPR defunded. Joy Reid gone from MSNBC. Sleepy-Eyed Chuck Todd gone. Jim Acosta gone. John Dickerson gone. [Stephen] Colbert is leaving. CBS is under new ownership, and soon enough CNN will have new ownership as well." The CNN reference pointed to the pending Warner Bros.-Paramount transaction, which would place CNN under the Ellison family, known for its close ties to President Trump.

    The remarks came roughly a week after Carr publicly warned broadcasters they would "lose their licenses" if they did not "correct course" on Iran War coverage he characterized as "hoaxes and news distortions." That sequence — a licensing threat followed by a public claim that the government is "winning" against the press — is what distinguishes the speech from ordinary political rhetoric: the speaker is the regulator who controls broadcast license renewals. The FCC's lone Democratic commissioner has publicly noted that the agency's licensing authority extends to local television stations, not national news organizations, underscoring that the threats exceed any sweeping authority Carr actually holds.

    Carr told the audience the administration was "not at the point yet" of "raising the mission accomplished flag," signaling the campaign would continue, and then repeated that "President Trump is taking on the fake news media and President Trump is winning." The archive already records concrete FCC action in this pattern, including the commission's early license review of Disney's eight ABC-owned stations one day after President Trump demanded Jimmy Kimmel's firing.

    Why we recorded this

    The First Amendment bars the government from punishing the press for its coverage, and broadcast regulation has long run on a norm of viewpoint neutrality: the FCC's licensing power must not be used to reward or punish newsrooms for their journalism. Here the sitting chairman of that licensing agency publicly counted defunded public broadcasters and departed journalists as government "results" and pledged the campaign would continue — one week after warning broadcasters they could lose their licenses over war coverage he objected to. When the licensing regulator himself describes the press as an adversary the government is "winning" against, the threat becomes implicit in routine FCC business, and self-censorship does the rest. We recorded it as press retaliation and licensing authority leveraged against critics.

    Sources

    1. Brendan Carr Boasts Trump Is 'Winning' Against 'Fake News Media,' Cites Colbert Exit and CNN Ownership Shift — TheWrap primary accessed June 7, 2026
    2. CPAC Discussion with FCC Chair Brendan Carr — C-SPAN primary accessed June 7, 2026
    3. Carr Counts Defunding and Threatening Media As Wins for Trump Admin — Talking Points Memo secondary accessed June 7, 2026
    4. The FCC chair is openly cheering the weakening of the press — Poynter secondary accessed June 7, 2026
    5. Trump's FCC Chief Says His Censorship Protects the Little Guy — The Intercept secondary accessed June 7, 2026

    See also