FCC’s Lone Democrat Urges Media Firms to Push Back Against Trump-Era Pressure

Anna Gomez wakes up every morning and checks her phone to see if President Trump has fired her.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez has cited discussions on media regulation and free speech concerns involving major U.S. broadcasters. (Photo: Federal Communications Commission Facebook)

For now, she is the sole Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where she is pressing media companies to more forcefully confront what she describes as an administration cracking down on free speech, Steven Sloan reported for The Associated Press (AP).

Her immediate focus is Disney, the parent company of ABC, which is under FCC scrutiny led by Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump ally.

In a four-page letter sent earlier this month to Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, Gomez described what she called a “sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control” against the company.

She cited investigations involving Disney’s diversity policies, ABC’s moderation of a 2024 presidential debate, programming decisions on The View, and public criticism of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

Gomez warned that early license reviews of ABC broadcast stations could be used as political pressure against the network, calling it “the most egregious assault on the First Amendment this FCC has taken to date.”

She urged Disney to resist what she views as regulatory intimidation, arguing that a previous $15 million defamation settlement set a troubling precedent without securing long-term protection.