The primetime blackout is headed for an FCC spotlight.
Rep. Buddy Carter is asking federal regulators to investigate why ABC and NBC declined to carry President Trump’s July 16 address on their main broadcast networks and why CBS cut away before he finished speaking.
The Georgia Republican argued that the networks may have failed their obligation to serve the public interest by preventing millions of Americans from hearing a major presidential address on election security.
“The public airwaves should inform the American people, not be used by corporate executives to decide which matters of national importance they are permitted to hear,” Carter wrote in a Monday letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
Carter asked the Federal Communications Commission to review the networks’ decisions and consider its findings during future broadcast-license proceedings.
The request does not establish that any network or affiliated station violated federal rules. It puts pressure on the FCC to determine whether the broadcasters exercised ordinary editorial discretion or crossed a regulatory line involving their use of the public airwaves.
Carter made clear that networks were free to challenge Trump’s assertions before or after the address.
“Broadcasters may criticize, analyze, or fact-check the President’s statements,” he wrote. “However, refusing to air a major presidential address because executives disagree with its content raises serious concerns that they intended to keep Americans in the dark about potential foreign interference in our elections.”
Trump used the more than 20-minute speech to announce the “immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence” that he said exposed “shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure.”
ABC and NBC did not broadcast the address on their primary television networks. CBS began carrying it but cut away before Trump completed his remarks.
Carter argued that the subject of the speech, regardless of how networks assessed Trump’s claims, warranted direct access for the public.
“Regardless of political affiliation, the American people deserved to hear this information directly from their President and judge it for themselves,” Carter wrote.
Their licenses should be revoked.
Do you agree, @BrendanCarrFCC? https://t.co/TSZBgAcdQJ
— Buddy Carter (@RepBuddyCarter) July 17, 2026
The networks made the address available through some streaming options, but Carter said that was no replacement for conventional television.
He noted that millions of Americans still lack reliable broadband service or depend on free, over-the-air broadcasts for news and public information.
Streaming “was not an adequate substitute for free, over-the-air television, particularly for Americans without reliable broadband access,” Carter wrote.
More over at Fox News:
Top media networks put on notice after refusing to air Trump's primetime address: 'Serious concerns' https://t.co/X6XrWSWzAh #FoxNews
— Laura Gussin (@LGussin1017) July 21, 2026
