Trump announces he will investigate Comcast for biased reporting if elected president in 2024

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Former President Donald Trump posted on social media that he plans to investigate Comcast for “biased reporting” if he wins the presidency in 2024. The comment provoked significant uproar, with many, including the Biden White House, viewing it as a direct threat to freedom of the press. 

Key Players

Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, has attempted to discredit media outlets and reporters that he deems unfavorable. During the buildup to the Republican primaries for the presidential election of 2024, he even turned against Fox News, claiming it attempted to boost his primary opponents to prevent him from being returned to the presidency. To illustrate his contempt, Trump did not participate in the first GOP debate that aired on Fox News, largely, he said, because of his “hostile” relationship with the network. 

Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, NBC News, and MSNBC. It is also a major cable television provider.

Further Details

On Sept. 24, 2023, Trump stated on his social media site Truth Social that should he be elected president in 2024, he would use his executive power to investigate Comcast. 

Television organizations, he said, “are almost all dishonest and corrupt, but Comcast, with its one-side (sic) and vicious coverage by NBC News, and in particular MSNBC, often and correctly referred to as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee!), should be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason,” Trump wrote, adding, “I say up front, openly, and proudly, that when I win the presidency of the United States, they and others of the lamestream media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events.”

Trump also referred to the media again, as he did while he was president, as the “enemy of the people,” which, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a press freedom advocacy organization, is a dangerous portrayal. 

Outcome

Trump’s comments generated a substantial amount of criticism. 

Charlie Sykes, a political commentator who frequently appears on MSNBC, said that Trump is “talking about using government power to retaliate and shut down NBC for criticizing him.” 

On Sept. 25, the White House weighed in. “President Biden swore an oath to uphold our Constitution and to protect American Democracy,” the White House stated. “Freedom of the press is a fundamental Constitutional right. To abuse presidential power and violate the Constitutional rights of reporters would be an outrageous attack on our democracy and the rule of law. Presidents must always defend Americans’ freedoms – never trample on them for selfish, small, and dangerous political purposes.” 

Moreover, journalist and author James Surowiecki posted on X, “Of course, Glenn Greenwald and all the [right-wingers] who complain about Democrats’ lack of respect for free speech said nothing yesterday about Trump calling for investigations of TV networks and threatening to pull NBC’s broadcast license because of their speech.” 

In response to the assertion, the journalist Glenn Greenwald replied on social media, “Yeah, that’s wrong. … To defend Dems, media often relies on almost happened’ (‘Trump almost went to war with Iran’, Trump said he’d do this but he didn’t, etc.).”

Despite the comments about Trump’s hatred of the media, Paul Farhi, a media reporter for The Washington Post, highlighted that Trump has a somewhat mutually beneficial relationship with these outlets. For instance, a week before his controversial post, Trump was the featured guest on Meet the Press, the signature Sunday morning news program on NBC.