Free-Speech Advocates Mark Out Brendan Carr's Trail of Corruption

On Aug. 6, volunteers and advocates marked out this history with “Brendan Carr’s Corruption Walk,” an informational trail connecting a nearby subway stop to the FCC’s Washington headquarters. 

The Corruption Walk exposes the FCC chairman’s role as President Donald Trump’s censorship czar, detailing Carr’s many transgressions against First Amendment freedoms enjoyed by the press, advocates and everyone in the United States.

This shameful history, recounted on a series of 11 signs, details the chairman’s corrupt attempts to silence and bully any media that refuse to bow to Trump’s anti-democratic White House agenda. The signs were displayed as the FCC convened its monthly open meeting, allowing attendees en route to read about the ways in which Carr has violated his oath of office.

Free Press created the Corruption Walk to show that the FCC chairman has failed to fulfill his sworn duty to defend a free press and serve the public interest. A QR code allowed people following the trail to contact their members of Congress and call for Carr’s impeachment.

This is what the 11 Corruption Walk signs said — including an important call to action to show Carr the door:

1. The Rise of Trump’s Censorship Czar

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has repeatedly abused the power of his agency to shake down media companies, censor broadcasters and punish newsrooms that won’t distort their coverage to placate President Trump. Instead of honoring his oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution, Carr has weaponized the FCC against Trump’s foes, turning the First Amendment on its head and violating other agency rules and the law to strongarm broadcast and tech companies and silence dissenting voices in the media. 

2. Carr Sends Up First Amendment Warning Flares 

Even before he was sworn in, Carr revealed his intentions to undermine free-speech standards that have long governed the FCC. Carr took to X to state that media companies would be held to his twisted interpretation of the public-interest standard. 

He told Fox News that an unjustified news-distortion complaint against 60 Minutes that the previous FCC had dismissed should be reconsidered. He falsely claimed that NBC had failed to give Trump equal time in exchange for Kamala Harris’ appearance on SNL (Trump got time on NBC’s highly rated national sports broadcasts). And Carr wrote to the head of ABC to complain about the state of network news — while attacking anchor George Stephanopoulos’ coverage of Trump. 

3. Carr Weaponizes the Public Interest to Muzzle Trump’s Foes

Prior to becoming chairman, Carr said that “censorship is the authoritarian’s dream.” Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wrote that he initially read Carr’s post as a defense of free speech. But since Carr became chairman, Wheeler said, the post “appears more like a roadmap: Use censorship and the power of the FCC to expand authoritarian control.” 

Indeed, Carr has weaponized the agency to silence any and all Trump critics. Carr often claims that he’s acting on behalf of the public interest — suggesting that Trump’s narrow 2024 election victory gave him a broad mandate to censor and control the media. But the actual public believes otherwise: A recent poll found that 68 percent of Americans oppose government pressure on broadcasters to silence speech it may disagree with.

4. Carr Undermines Diversity to Whitewash the Media 

In January 2025, Carr threatened enforcement actions against NBC under the guise of scrutinizing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. In reality, Carr’s DEI probes are politically motivated moves designed to chill independent journalism. As Carr was pursuing his anti-diversity campaign, NBC cancelled programs hosted by Joy Reid, Alex Wagner, Katie Phang and José Diaz-Balart. Reid is Black, Wagner and Phang are Asian, and Díaz-Balart is Latino. Then-NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, who is Black, announced that he was moving to a more limited role at the network. 

Carr later ordered an early license review of eight ABC stations, citing concerns about their DEI practices. These attacks are an attempt to legitimize discrimination against people who have faced bigotry in the United States, said Free Press Co-CEO Jessica J. González. “This is morally and legally wrong.”

5. Chairman Issues Mafioso-Style Threats to Silence Jimmy Kimmel and Others

Lawyers and civil libertarians frequently call out Carr’s bad-faith efforts as “jawboning,” or illegal government threats designed to control the media and stifle dissent. Carr has threatened to investigate broadcast companies involved in private lawsuits with Trump, clearly implying that they should settle with the president … or else. House Democrats called for an inquiry into Carr’s jawboning, calling it a “flagrant disregard of the statutory jurisdiction of the Commission.” 

After ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about MAGA’s response to Charlie Kirk’s death, Carr said that Kimmel’s comments were “truly sick,” telling ABC: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct … or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC.” Broadcasters, including Nexstar and Sinclair, responded by temporarily yanking Kimmel’s show off the air. 

6. Trump’s Censorship Czar Tries to Chill Accountability Journalism

In early 2025, Carr launched a formal investigation into KCBS-AM in San Jose, California, for reporting publicly available information about ICE activity in a local neighborhood. The station, Carr said, needed to explain “how this can possibly be consistent with their public-interest obligations.” 

This reporting is protected under the First Amendment. But that didn’t stop Trump’s Censorship Czar from again abusing his authority to intimidate journalists and their bosses. In March 2026, Carr ignited a fresh First Amendment firestorm by warning television broadcasters that they could lose their licenses over what he claimed were “hoaxes and news distortions” in their coverage of the U.S. war with Iran.

7. Imposing the Equal-Time Rule Unequally

In early 2026, Carr issued a strict “guidance” targeting certain late-night and daytime talk shows, declaring that programs “motivated by partisan purposes” would no longer automatically qualify for equal-time exemptions. In the chairman’s sights were programs like Late Night with Stephen Colbert, Saturday Night Live and The View, which had angered Trump with their guest choices, monologues and skits. 

These and similar programs had long operated under an FCC waiver that recognized the core free-speech right to determine whom to interview and when. Tellingly, right-wing radio talk shows that the president favors evaded such equal-time scrutiny from Carr. A rule applied to only the set of speakers that questions the White House agenda is not evenhanded regulation.

8. Chairman Oversteps FCC Authority in Big-Tech Power Grab

Carr has sent multiple letters to social-media platforms to push his warped understanding of free speech, where he pretends it’s A-OK for the government to dictate the editorial decisions of private companies. It’s all part of a Carr power grab: He wants to dramatically expand the FCC’s ability to regulate the speech choices of companies like Google and Meta. Carr’s also suggested withholding Section 230 protections that safeguard platforms’ right to moderate content — and wants to force them to host posts and accounts that traffic in hate and disinformation. 

“The purpose of the First Amendment is to protect people from the government picking and choosing speech,” Free Press Action Co-CEO Craig Aaron told Congress. “It’s not to let the government dictate how a private company conducts content moderation.”

9. Double Dealing with Trump’s Billionaire Cronies 

Media owners have been far too willing to cave to Carr, making editorial changes and silencing dissenting voices to win FCC approval for proposed mergers and acquisitions. In Carr’s view, such quid-pro-quo capitulation is required to grease the skids for regulatory favors: Nexstar, the nation’s largest broadcaster, is relying on Carr to get rid of a media-ownership cap so it can take over fellow broadcast conglomerate Tegna — even though doing so violates the limit Congress set. 

Broadcast colossus Sinclair has its hand out for special treatment, too, as it lobbies the FCC to help grow its empire. Both Nexstar and Sinclair quickly suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! to please the president and convince Carr that they’re worthy. 

10. Carr Pushes to Snuff Out Public Media

Carr has made a determined push to punish NPR and PBS for coverage that got under Trump’s thin skin. In May 2025, Carr launched an investigation into claims the public networks were violating the agency’s underwriting and advertisement regulations in programs supplied to member stations. Carr’s sudden interest in public media is actually an attempt to discourage NPR and PBS from holding the White House accountable. 

Carr’s harassment campaign occurred as Trump engaged in a months-long and ultimately successful effort to zero out federal support of NPR and PBS stations. Carr has repeatedly dodged questions about coordination between his actions and Trump’s demands. The close chronology of his anti-public broadcasting actions suggests the answer.

11. A Corrupt Carr Must Go

Time and time again, Chairman Carr has violated his oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. His efforts to censor and control the media have angered people across the political spectrum: GOP Sen. Ted Cruz called Carr’s censorial actions “dangerous as hell.” Carr mistakenly believes he has the power to shake down media companies, censor broadcasters and punish newsrooms that won’t distort their coverage and amplify propaganda to please a chaotic and image-obsessed president. 

While he likes to pretend he’s the ultimate arbiter of truth, the FCC chairman should never be in the business of censorship. Carr has proven himself unfit and unwilling to abide by the First Amendment. It’s time for him to go.