White House Blasts ABC 'Spin Operation' After Trump Resurrects License Revocation Threat
The White House took a swipe at ABC again Wednesday, just a day after President Donald Trump called for the FCC to revoke the network’s broadcast license during a press conference with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump responded to a question Tuesday from ABC News White House correspondent Mary Bruce by saying Carr “should look at” taking away the network’s license “because your news is so fake and so wrong” (see 2511180045).
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The White House’s Wednesday press release against ABC didn’t repeat Trump’s call for FCC revocation of its license but instead outlined 17 incidents that the administration said prove that the network’s news division “is not journalism -- it’s a Democrat spin operation masquerading as a broadcast network. The network’s longstanding commitment to hoaxes, character assassinations, and outright fiction targeting only one side of the political aisle is a deliberate deception to wage war on President Trump and the millions of Americans who elected him to multiple terms.”
The Trump administration in part cited ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos’ March 2024 comments about a jury verdict on sexual assault allegations that journalist E. Jean Carroll brought against Trump, which became the subject of his defamation lawsuit against the network. That case was settled in December for $15 million (see 2412160043).