There’s something almost admirable about the audacity of asking the umpire for a bigger strike zone while you’re corking the bat on live television. But that’s essentially what ABC has been doing with “The View” — petitioning federal regulators for the privileges of a legitimate news program while the hosts run what increasingly looks like a Democratic strategy session five mornings a week.
Here’s the backdrop. FCC equal opportunity rules require broadcast stations to give political candidates fair access to the airwaves. There’s an exemption for “bona fide news programs” — think “Meet the Press” — because genuine journalism naturally covers candidates without functioning as a campaign ad. ABC and its Disney-owned Houston affiliate KTRK-TV filed a petition asking the FCC to grant “The View” that very exemption.
Their argument? The FCC already settled this back in 2002, and revisiting the question now threatens editorial freedom. ABC’s filing put it in lofty terms: “The First Amendment does not permit the government to sit in an editor’s chair.” I’ll admit, it reads beautifully on paper. Constitutional. High-minded. The kind of thing that might even hold up — if the hosts could resist blowing the cover story on air.
What Sunny said
They couldn’t. On Tuesday’s show, Sunny Hostin handed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr the best evidence he could ask for — free of charge.
During a panel discussion about the troubled Maine Senate candidacy of Democrat Graham Platner, Hostin dropped any pretense of journalistic detachment and went full party operative.
From Fox News:
“We’re in an existential crisis. We need to flip the Senate,” Hostin said. She argued that Maine remained a key pickup opportunity for Democrats: “I do believe that Susan Collins is beatable. And I think once they just have the right candidate with all the appropriate information, the Democrats really could take that seat and that’s a very important seat.”
Tell me — does that sound like a news anchor analyzing a race, or a campaign consultant working through her target list on national television?
She wasn’t alone. The entire panel spent the segment gaming out Democratic strategy for the Maine seat. Joy Behar told Platner to “get out and shut up.” Sara Haines said he wasn’t “qualified to pick his successor.” Whoopi Goldberg pleaded for someone clean. Less a news discussion, more a Democratic caucus meeting with better lighting.
The FCC chair fires back
Chairman Carr wasn’t about to let the moment pass. He posted the clip on X with a devastating caption: “ABC is arguing to the FCC that The View is a ‘bona fide news program’ — just like Meet the Press — and thus exempt from the political equal opportunity rules.” Then he let Hostin’s own words finish the argument for him.
An FCC spokesperson twisted the knife further, saying ABC should focus on “complying with its public interest obligations, rather than misleading the public about them.”
The bigger picture
Look, I’m not naive. We all know “The View” is a left-leaning talk show. That’s fine — it’s a free country. But the ladies over at that table have a real knack for ticking off the FCC chairman, and honestly? They’re earning it.
You don’t get to ride the line of brazen partisanship week after week, openly pleading for one party to win specific elections, and then run to the regulators demanding the same protections as Walter Cronkite. The equal opportunity rules aren’t about silencing anyone’s opinion. They exist because public airwaves belong to all Americans — not just the ones Sunny Hostin votes for.
If “The View” wants to be a partisan operation, more power to them. But the exemptions designed for actual journalism? Those should be earned, not gamed. The umpire’s watching now, and the corked bat is in plain sight.
Key Takeaways
- ABC seeks FCC “news program” privileges while “The View” hosts openly campaign for Democrats.
- Sunny Hostin declared on-air that Democrats must “flip the Senate” — hardly objective journalism.
- FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly exposed the contradiction between ABC’s legal claims and on-air reality.
- Public airwaves carry obligations that partisan opinion shows shouldn’t be allowed to dodge.
