PHILADELPHIA, PA — 6ABC Philadelphia is being threatened with removal from the airways by President Trump's Federal Communications Commission, the network says, and they're asking for the public's support.
6ABC, licensed as WPVI, is among ABC stations around the nation caught in the middle of President Donald Trump's latest clash with the media. The network is calling the threat an attack on free speech.
"6ABC has proudly served Philadelphia for nearly 80 years," the network shared. "Now the FCC is questioning our commitment to viewers by threatening to take us off the air. Use your voice and tell the FCC that Philly deserves to keep its trusted local station WPVI."
The FCC is accepting public comments on the issue until July 29.
In addition to 6ABC, stations the FCC is reviewing include KGO-TV in San Francisco, KABC in Los Angeles, WABC in New York, WLS in Chicago, KTRK in Houston, WTVD in Raleigh-Durham, and KFSN in Fresno.
Trump first challenged ABC station licenses in April, following a controversial monologue by Jimmy Kimmel on his longtime show, where the comedian said First Lady Melania Trump looked like "an expectant widow."
The FCC, in response, asked Disney to reapply early to renew its station license, an unprecedented move that hadn't been seen in decades, according to CNN.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in June that all options remain on the table. Carr also accused Disney of running a "fairly standard off-the-shelf PR strategy," according to Reuters.
"We're going to follow the facts and the law wherever they take this," Carr said in the report.
The threat to Disney-owned ABC TV stations comes as the president flexes powers granted by the United States Supreme Court last month to fire leaders of previously independent agencies such as the FCC.
"It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers," Trump posted on social media.
It also marks an escalation of Carr's efforts to campaign to punish media critical of Trump.
Anna Gomez is one of the few Democrats who have held onto their seats at federal agencies after Trump fired most of them. She warned of the fallout from the Supreme Court ruling this week.
"When commissioners can be removed for their policy views rather than for cause, the inevitable result is an agency that pulls its punches and defers to political winds rather than the record before it," Gomez said.
She said consumers "will pay the price" in higher costs, fewer choices and slower progress toward connectivity.
With reporting from the Associated Press and Patch correspondent Fernando Haro,
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