FCC head says government-funded Trump ads are normal and dont raise any red flags

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said Wednesday that new pro-Trump TV ads paid for with government funds don’t “merit any sort of FCC review.”“It doesn’t strike me as anything at all out of the ordinary,” Carr said of the ads, which have aired across the country in recent weeks.Asked about allegations that the ads are “propaganda,” Carr laughed.The White House has “explained that these are just normal-course public service announcements, PSAs, that you see all the time.I don’t think there’s anything unique or different about it,” he said at a news conference.“There’s nothing in there that strikes me that merit any sort of FCC review,” said Carr, whom Trump appointed to the agency.A reporter pointed out that the progressive advocacy group Public Citizen filed a complaint with the FCC noting that the Trump campaign used one of the ads in 2024.Carr brushed off the concern, telling reporters that “there’s groups on the left that have, you know, long worked and pushed to weaponize the FCC’s license renewal process” but that the ads “don’t raise any red flags.”Public Citizen did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner on the FCC, told NBC News in a statement, “I recognize the concern shared by others that taxpayer dollars are being used to promote a political message, particularly given the timing of these ads coming so close to an election.”“While it is not surprising to see the FCC exercise a double standard when it comes to its investigative decisions, I am certain we will hear more about this from folks in Congress, who are ultimately responsible,” her statement said.The use of federal funds to pay for the ads has drawn bipartisan criticism, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., saying they “shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars” and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., calling them an “absolute viola...