Disney wants the FCC to preserve The View's special status as a bona fide news interview program. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr answered by replaying the show's own words.
Carr posted a montage Thursday after Disney argued that the program's editorial decisions are guided by newsworthiness rather than partisan goals.
Disney is arguing to the FCC that its ABC show The View is a “bona fide news program”
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) July 30, 2026
Disney claims that its decisions are based on “newsworthiness”—rather than partisan purposes—and thus exempt from political equal time rules
Here’s some of the show
The FCC will make its…
One clip showed co-host Ana Navarro telling viewers who wanted President Donald Trump restrained that "they have got to vote Democrat in November." Other segments featured repeated attacks on Republicans and open praise for Democratic victories.
Calling Sunny Hostin and Joy Behar objective journalists is like calling Joe Biden a member of Mensa. Disney's filing doesn't literally describe either woman as objective, but its legal case asks the FCC to accept something nearly as difficult to believe.
The network must show that decisions involving political guests are based on news value rather than a desire to help or hurt candidates.
Congress created the equal opportunities rule to prevent broadcasters from favoring one legally qualified candidate with access denied to an opponent. When a candidate appears on a broadcast station, opposing candidates can seek comparable time and placement. Genuine newscasts, interviews, documentaries, and live news events may receive exemption.
The law doesn't require every television host to conceal a political opinion. Joy Behar can despise Republicans, Sunny Hostin can defend Democrats. Whoopi Goldberg can spend an hour criticizing Trump.
The First Amendment protects sharp commentary, bad arguments, and partisan television.
The dispute begins when ABC wants the legal advantages of a news program while operating a daytime campaign rally.
The network, which has accused the Trump administration of trying to chill free speech in the escalating dispute, argued in a new filing to the Federal Communications Commission, made public Tuesday, that the issue had been resolved by the commission itself more than two decades ago.
The latest ABC filing was required as part of the FCC review process. It consisted of “reply comments” to the commission in support of the network’s petition for a declaratory ruling that “The View” — the long-running morning show that combines entertainment and political interviews and often features commentary critical of President Donald Trump — is a bona fide news program.
ABC cited a 2002 FCC decision qualifying “The View” as such, which would mean it’s exempt from equal time rules. Those rules require granting equal airtime to competing candidates for office.
In a May filing, ABC similarly accused the Trump administration of trying to chill its constitutionally protected free speech and hinder open political discussion by reopening the question about “The View.”
It was the latest volley in a broader dispute inside and outside the legal arena between the U.S. media and the Trump White House over what journalists perceive as the president’s attack on free speech and the media’s ability to do its job. Trump has been critical of media outlets whose journalism runs counter to his agenda.
A host urging viewers to vote for one party gives the FCC a legitimate reason to examine whether candidate interviews and guest selections reflect independent editorial judgment.
Disney-owned KTRK-TV and ABC petitioned the FCC in May for a ruling that The View qualifies for the exemption. The FCC identified three central factors: whether the shows air regularly, whether the broadcaster controls it, and whether choices involving content and guests arise from newsworthiness rather than partisan purposes.
The current co-hosts are Behar, Hostin, Goldberg, Navarro, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Sara Haines.
Unfortunately, ABC has a fair argument of its own. FCC staff recognized The View as a bona fide news interview program in 2002. The network says the government is reopening a settled question because the show frequently criticizes Trump.
Federal regulators shouldn't use licensing power to punish speech they dislike or force broadcasters to adopt approved political views. Carr has said he doesn't view the FCC as America's speech police.
Appearing recently on The Conversation podcast, hosted by POLITICO’s Dasha Burns, Carr said that his job is to apply the laws Congress has passed.
“I don’t view the FCC as the speech police,” Carr told Burns. But he added, “we should be appropriately applying and enforcing the laws that Congress passed,” and noted that broadcasters are obligated to use their programing to advance the “public interest.”
“I think in the media space in particular, the FCC over the last 20 or 30 years really backed away from the regulatory framework that Congress put in place,” Carr said. “And I don’t think it’s been a good thing, either in terms of our job of administering the law or the outcome that we’re seeing across the media sector.”
He also pointed out that polls show that the public has no trust at all in journalism and that they have squandered their once high trust position in American society.
“Fifteen percent of people would eat gas station sushi,” Carr explained. “Only 8 percent of people say they have a great deal of trust” in the media.
The agency's own guidance also says these exemptions are fact-specific and based on the program as it existed when the ruling was issued. A letter written 24 years ago shouldn't prevent regulators from examining what the show has become.
Disney remains free to broadcast every anti-Republican rant its hosts can squeeze in between commercial breaks. Viewers remain free to watch, laugh, cheer, or change the channel.
Special treatment under federal election law requires more than a familiar set, celebrity guests, and a news division logo. When hosts openly tell Americans which party to elect, Disney can't act offended when the FCC asks whether The View still qualifies as genuine news.
Related: Ketanji Brown Jackson Says She Avoids Partiality While Sitting With Michelle Obama
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