WASHINGTON, D.C. — FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty was the main attraction at a luncheon address held Thursday at the Free State Foundation, where the Republican votemaker delivered prepared remarks in which she shared her views on why “we need to support today’s New Golden Age of America, where our communications networks are the most advanced, secure, and widely available in the world, and where every American has the tools to thrive in the digital era.”
Trusty took a few questions afterward, appearing alongside former Commissioner Mike O’Rielly for a short Q&A. It brought an opportunity for Trusty to comment on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show suspension and comments made by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on the matter.
Carr, speaking on Cumulus Podcast Network-distributed offering The Benny Show, stated that the FCC could be called upon to be an ultimate judge as to whether or not the Kimmel-hosted program failed to act in the public interest when he labeled the accused assassin of Charlie Kirk an individual aligned with “MAGA” and President Trump, rather than an anarchist with leftist viewpoints.
On the program, the Chairman stated, “[It] appears to be clear that you could make a strong argument that this sort of an intentional effort to mislead the American people on a very core, fundamental fact about a very important matter. At the end of the day, if we do get called upon to cast a vote on this, Disney will have a chance to put in their arguments and explain it, but this is a very serious issue right now for Disney.”
With the mic handed to Dave Shepardson, the Washington-based Reuters reporter asked Trusty, “Do you think — and there’s been some criticism on both sides of the aisle — that that’s an appropriate action by the Chair, and how do you square that with the First Amendment rights of local broadcasters, and do you also support the idea of using the public interest standard to take action against broadcasters who air programs that some might find objectionable.”
Trusty replied, “One, I believe firmly in the First Amendment. I think it protects fundamental freedoms that are essential to the functioning of a Democratic society. Broadcasters have privileged access to spectrum and as a result they are expected to operate in the public interest.”
As we saw yesterday, Trusty continued, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Inc. “made a business decision to remove or at least suspect the Jimmy Kimmel show because they did not believe it was in the public interest for their viewers.”
What Carr said was not something Trusty could directly comment on, she explained, but, she added, “Under the law we have a responsibility to make sure broadcasters are complying with their public interest obligations and that is what I’m committed to doing.”
With Free State Foundation founder and President Randy May serving as moderator, he quickly shifted to another individual in the packed room for a second question. That person, who had a “slight alteration” of Shepardson’s question and did not identify himself, asked Trusty how she’d respond to people who say that the FCC is “kind of censoring” or telling TV stations what they can or cannot say. He also wanted to know what the limits of satire are, given regulatory policy today at the Commission, and how to draw the line between what one is allowed to say on television and is impermissible “without drawing the ire of the FCC.”
Trusty replied, “Everything is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but I’d go back to what I said before about public interest obligations that broadcasters have, because of this privileged access to spectrum. In this particular case, Nexstar and Sinclair decided to make a business decision and suspend Jimmy Kimmel because what he said was not in the public interest, in their view.”
IS IT ‘THE TRUMP FCC,’ SUCCEEDING ‘THE BIDEN FCC’?
May, who served in the past at the FCC as an Associate General Counsel, asked the last question, prior to O’Rielly making remarks tied to Trusty’s keynote address on broadband and non-broadcast matters. He asked, “There’s a lot of discussion and debate, some would even say controversy these days, about the nature and role of the FCC in relation to the administration … and its independence.”
What thoughts does Trusty have regarding the relationship between the FCC and the executive branch of the U.S. government? She had a couple of thoughts, noting President Trump “is vested with all executive power in our government.” As it relates to FCC Commissioners, “We do not have for-cause removal protections like others.”
Does this mean the FCC isn’t legally independent from the executive branch? “That is tied up in courts and they will resolve the issues there,” Trusty concluded. “For my own part, as I mentioned in my speech, I’m so honored to be nominated by the president and to be confirmed by the Senate and I’m eager to contribute to the president’s agenda when it comes to a ‘new golden age’ for this country and to the Chairman’s ‘Build America’ agenda.”
