Donald Trump’s Threat to Yank Broadcast Television Licenses is Stupid, Counterproductive, and, Oh Yes, Unconstitutional

I was 10 years old and at home with my family in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington DC, just after dinner one night when we got a call from the White House. It was President John F. Kennedy calling for my dad, Newton Minow, then then 35-year-old Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the federal agency that licenses the broadcast networks and regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. President Kennedy wanted to complain about something he saw on the news and he wanted my dad to do something about it.

I thought of that call when I read that the Trump campaign is threatening the licenses of television stations over an ad attacking President Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 virus. What the President said and what my father did are below. But first, here is what is happening this week:

The Trump campaign has written to television stations in five states telling them to stop running an ad from a Biden-supporting PAC called Priorities USA. “Failure to remove the ad “could put your station’s license in jeopardy” before the Federal Communications Commission, the letter said. “Your station has an obligation to cease and desist from airing it immediately to comply with FCC licensing requirements.”

In the midst of all of the chaos and concern about the virus, it is still impossible to ignore how inappropriate and…