On May 8, 2026, ABC tossed allegations toward the FCC of a “chilling effect” to punish political content they don’t agree with as the government agency tries to end the broadcast network and others like it from pushing partisan candidates on viewers, thus shaping the outcome of future elections in favor of liberals and the radical leftist agenda.
The network has filed a petition with the commission that attempts to make the argument that their popular morning talk show, “The View” is a legitimate, or in their words “bona fide” news program. “‘The View’ has been broadcasting under a bona fide news exemption granted to it more than twenty years ago… The Commission has taken no action over the last two decades to modify or overturn the Declaratory Ruling and there is no basis for doing so now,” ABC wrote in the filing.
“The Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to ‘The View’ and more broadly,” ABC added in the document. A source within the government revealed that Disney’s statement was “absurd on its face,” adding, “Ron Burgundy has a stronger claim of being ‘bona fide news’ than Whoopi Goldberg.”
For those who might not be familiar with Burgundy, he’s a character from the classic Will Ferrell comedy, “Anchorman.” The FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, is making moves to force broadcast networks to abide by the statutory public interest rules that legally require equal time be provided to political candidates from different parties or affiliations.
This would include late-night programming like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The View.” Daniel Suhr, the current president of the Center for American Rights (CAR), stated that for every individual who thinks Carr is on some kind of “crusade” against these companies, he has a message to send, which is that Carr is giving them opportunities to showcase their news programs, Breitbart News reported.
Surh then explained, “He’s following the process and giving them an opportunity to show that they fit within the statutory exemption. My view is, they don’t, they never have. Uh, at least, you know, of late, the last few years. And the James Talarico appearance is just the latest in a long-standing series of blatantly partisan misuses of the airwaves on the part of ABC’s view.”
Suhr stated that it is difficult to believe what is said on these talk shows, including “The View,” when the ratio of Democrat to Republican guests is “30 to 1.” He then said, “It becomes immediately obvious, as soon as you look at the lists of guests, that it is not a news program, it is a partisan circus. And for them to claim to be a bona fide news program, is contrary to what Congress intended, its colors to contrary to how the commission is traditionally interpreted it.”
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There are even a growing number of liberals who agree with Suhr and Carr. Co-founder of Public Knowledge, Gigi Sohn, who also formerly served as a senior staffer for then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, said, “In my baby lawyer days working at the Media Access Project with Andrew Schwartzman, we litigated some cases where we felt that the Federal Communications Commission gave too many ‘bona fide news interview’ exemptions to shows that didn’t really deserve them – the long-cancelled McLaughlin Group being one of them.”
“We didn’t challenge the ruling that the interview part of the Jay Leno show was exempt, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if we had,” Sohn continued. “Why? Because if what is really an entertainment show can provide opportunities to candidates for public office (and they must be a candidate – the rule doesn’t apply to regular old members of Congress if they aren’t running) to have a 15 minute free campaign ad, then the law has no meaning.”
“Would the public be better or worse off if James Talarico had appeared on Colbert Monday evening and CBS had to give his opposing candidates time to do the same?” Sohn asked readers. “And just a reminder – “equal time” is a misnomer. The other candidates wouldn’t have a right to appear on The Late Show, they would just have the right to be exposed to a similar sized audience.”
Suhr also noted that it’s in the public’s best interest to have a healthy two party system and to be provided with facts and a variety of different perspectives. “The public’s interest is a healthy two party system, the public’s interest is knowing the facts, and hearing a variety of views and perspectives, the public interest is a robust marketplace of ideas, and the FCC is doing its job and actually protecting core 1st Amendment values.”