Democratic FCC commissioner rejects Trump call to revoke ABC, NBC licenses

WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - The sole Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission on Friday rejected President Donald Trump's call for Disney-owned ABC and Comcast unit NBC to lose their broadcast licenses because they refused to air his remarks Thursday on election security.

"It is ridiculous to call for broadcasters to lose their license simply for making the same editorial decisions they've made under presidents of both parties. Those editorial decisions are protected by the First Amendment, and the FCC has no authority to punish a station for refusing to air a blatantly political speech," FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said. "This is a naked attempt to bully broadcasters, and the FCC should have no part in it."