Over the weekend, Trump issued one of his most unhinged Truth Social posts yet, threatening to report NBC News reporter Kristen Welker to the FCC for comments she made about his endorsement record. Forget the crime not matching the punishment; there’s no crime. Welker commented on a local affiliate that Trump had some “mixed results” in his primary endorsements. That’s protected free speech, full stop. Doesn’t matter whether Trump agrees with it, or if it hurts his feelings, there’s literally no recourse for the non-crime of doing journalism.
News networks are free to report on polls, whether we agree with them or not. They can report on the standings in a race, whether the data shows if an endorsement is helping or hurting. This is basic First Amendment stuff. You ask any judge - liberal, conservative, appointed by any president - they’re going to tell you that’s a settled matter of law.
Trump knows that. So when you see him lashing out like this and trying to turn the FCC into his personal attack force, it tells you one thing: he’s scared.
There’s a pattern here
In his Truth Social post, Trump calls the polls fake. It’s just another iteration of his claims about stolen elections, or millions of illegal voters, or ballots went missing - the list goes on. Trump is doing absolutely everything he can to sow doubt and to undermine trust in our elections. That way, when Election Day rolls around, and the results come in, he’s primed his audience to hear that the results are fake, too.
Trump’s henchman is FCC Chair Brendan Carr: the kind of “how high”-style jumping. Trump issued this decree and Carr will jump into action. You can set your watch by his incoming tweets, posts, and soundbites: a performance for an audience of one. He doesn’t have much actual, practical power in this case. But even his waving around an imaginary sword will have a chilling effect.
The media’s not innocent
To their credit, NBC News issued a defense of Welker in response to Trump’s attacks— the bare minimum in this situation. But these legacy media institutions have a terrible track record when it comes to responding to Trump’s egregious attacks on the free press and free speech. Since 2024, Trump’s extracted tens of millions in tribute in the form of “settlements” from ABC and Paramount to resolve his petty complaints of perceived slights against them. When they caved, he learned he could just do it again. So that’s what we’re seeing here: learned behavior. When you reward a dog for peeing on the rug, they’re just going to pee on the rug again. (Not my dog; Aston is perfect.)
So they’ve trained him, but he’s training them, too. His threat has a chilling effect. Media outlets will watch this debacle play out and start to think that it could happen to them, too. NBC News faces “some rebuke or punishment” for reporting on polls the president doesn’t like, and everyone else will start to worry that’s what awaits them if they do the same. At which point they just… stop doing it.
That’s why, I believe, independent media has never been more important. While legacy outlets may be learning all the wrong lessons in their interminable effort to stay in Trump’s good graces, I have no such desire. I am already on his enemies list for speaking out against him, and I wear it as a badge of honor. If you’d like to support my work and this newsletter, please consider becoming a subscriber. Thanks for supporting me and independent media.
The FCC is just another Trump goon squad now. There to do his bidding. And run by a questionable person. Project 2025 anyone? Vote as though your life depends on it. It just might.
His tantrums at journalists make him sound like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. "You can't handle the truth" in tone and posture. Unhinged as the character.