The Pettysburg Address

Donald Trump is big mad again.

This time, his anger is directed at ABC, NBC, and CNN. Why? Because the networks collectively looked at his latest primetime speech scheduling request, looked at the rundown, and made the editorial call to pass.

The speech was—stop me if you’ve heard this one before—yet another attempt to sew seeds of doubt in the minds of voters regarding American elections. Trump offered up his usual laundry list of grievances but provided little to no actual proof that things were "rigged."

Instead, he pointed the finger across the ocean, claiming that China tried to interfere with our elections.

Which brings up an interesting point.

Cast your mind back a bit. Remember when Vice President JD Vance actively intervened in a foreign campaign to give Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán a ringing endorsement? Was that the United States "interfering" with another country's election?

Funny how that works. When it’s them, it’s interference. When it’s us, it’s just “supporting an ally.”

Naturally, Trump took to social media to demand that the broadcast licenses for ABC and NBC be pulled immediately.

There is just one tiny, glaring problem with that demand. Donald Trump has been in and around media for decades, yet he still doesn’t quite understand that networks do not hold broadcast licenses.

The FCC issues broadcast licenses to individual, local television stations—not the national networks themselves. ABC and NBC own a few local stations (known as O&Os, or Owned and Operated), but pulling a "network license" is literally impossible because it doesn't exist.

But hey, why let facts get in the way of a good prime-time tantrum?