Can Trump's FCC Manufacture War Propaganda?
What A Day
What A Day
4.6 • 12.6K Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
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Summary
The Iran War is not very popular with Americans – and the Trump Administration seems to think it knows why: the media is being too mean about the President’s war of choice. On Saturday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr reposted a Trump Truth Social screed against The New York Times and Wall Street Journal on Twitter — adding, “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.” Carr has real power in his role as FCC Chairman – power he wants to use on behalf of President Trump. So to talk more about the FCC under Brendan Carr, we spoke with Matt Gertz. He’s a senior fellow at the progressive media watchdog, Media Matters.
And in headlines, the gloves came off during Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing, the government’s top intelligence officials testify about worldwide threats before the Senate, and The New York Times publishes a multiyear investigation revealing labor activist Cesar Chavez’s sexual abuse of women and girls.
Show Notes:
- Check out Matt's work – www.mediamatters.org/author/matt-gertz
- Call Congress – 202-224-3121
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Thursday, March 19th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is What Today. The show that just |
| 0:08.0 | learned, legendary 80s, new wave band, the B-52s, is upset with Texas Republican Senator John |
| 0:13.8 | Cornyn. Cornyn made an AI parody of the song Love Shack to attack his primary competitor in the |
| 0:19.3 | Senate runoff, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, for having a whole bunch of affairs. |
| 0:24.8 | Selected lyrics from the parody include, quote, |
| 0:27.0 | he's heading down the corrupt highway looking for his lying getaway. |
| 0:31.6 | Politics! |
| 0:31.9 | Politics! |
| 0:32.0 | Music! On today's show, the gloves come off during Oklahoma Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen's confirmation hearing. |
| 0:49.8 | Or maybe they were never on. |
| 0:52.2 | And Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, suggests that somehow intelligence is |
| 0:57.0 | not part of her job. |
| 0:58.7 | You probably had already figured that out. |
| 1:01.8 | But let's start with the Federal Communications Commission and the war with Iran. |
| 1:05.2 | Two topics that really shouldn't go together, and yet, here we are. |
| 1:09.1 | The Iran War is not very popular with Americans, |
| 1:11.6 | and the Trump administration seems to think it knows why. The media is being too mean about |
| 1:16.2 | President Donald Trump's War of Choice. Trump himself spent his weekend railing on true |
| 1:20.7 | social against the Wall Street Journal and New York Times for their reporting on the war. |
| 1:24.6 | He called them, quote, highly unpatriotic news organizations who should |
| 1:28.6 | face charges of treason. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said in a statement to the New York |
| 1:33.3 | Times Monday, quote, the media has been undeniably biased and negative in its coverage of President |
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