Transcript: Trump’s Rage at CBS Over Kamala Interview Takes Dark Turn

Sozen: That’s why his arguments are ridiculous and also dangerous for democracy. This is what authoritarians do. As we know, Trump is trying to stifle anyone who dares to question his lies, which are central to how MAGA operates. And one thing I’ll point out is that one of his favorite news networks, of course, is the far-right Fox News. If I recall correctly, a few years back, Tucker Carlson, who then had his number one–rated show on Fox News, did a long interview with Kanye West, who was known for saying extremely antisemitic and dangerous, disturbing things. After Carlson aired that interview, it came to light that several things were edited out by Carlson and his staff, several things that were incendiary and not politically helpful, perhaps. And you didn’t hear President Biden calling for Fox News to lose its broadcast licenses or to be punished for that, right? That would be a violation of the law and political norms.

Sargent: Yeah. This is a case where only one side attacks the press for telling the truth. We need to say here that no matter what you think of CBS’s handling of the Harris interview, it was fine. But even if you don’t think it was fine, this idea that it should be punished via government action should be covered as a scandal. It should be a scandal that one of the leading presidential candidates keeps saying this. It’s a clear window into what a second Trump term would be like. You have a new report out on how Project 2025 would essentially enable an imperial presidency, and a big part of the report is all about how an unshackled executive could go after the media in exactly this way. You talk about how Project 2025 creates a channel for the president to use the Federal Communications Commission toward that end. Can you talk about how that would work?

Sozan: Absolutely. This is a new report I wrote for the Center for American Progress with my coauthor, Ben Olinsky. We cover several different ways that Project 2025 would really tear down checks and balances, and one of the ones we really wanted to focus on was the intentional weakening of the news media. As you said, one of the ways that Project 2025 envisions allowing a president to manipulate the levers of the media is for him to manipulate the Federal Communications Commission, perhaps in conjunction with the Department of Justice or other governmental entities. This would allow them to assail media companies and their licensed outlets after journalists dare to report negatively about a president. For example, as we write about, an FCC that could be controlled by an authoritarian president could revoke the broadcast licenses of channels affiliated with major networks like CBS, like NBC. These are networks that Americans rely on for their news. In addition, the DOJ and a newly nonindependent FCC or Federal Trade Commission could launch dubious investigations, antitrust investigations, for example, into media companies that criticize the president.