President Trump said on Thursday that regulators should consider revoking the licenses of broadcasters that air negative coverage or commentary of him, indicating that his assault on critics’ language is motivated at least in part by personal animus.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr. Trump called the networks “an arm of the Democrat party” who are out to get him.
“I have read someplace that the networks were 97 percent against me, I get 97 percent negative, and yet I won and easily,” Mr. Trump said as he returned to Washington following a state visit to Britain, adding: “I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”
The comments were a remarkable escalation in a coordinated attack by Mr. Trump and his top aides, who are using the threat of the power of the American government to silence criticism or dissent following the assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
In the last week, White House has moved to target the tax status of liberal groups, monitor online speech, deny visas and threaten to designate certain groups as domestic terrorists. The administration has argued such measures are necessary to crack down on hate speech that could incite violence, even as Democrats and others warn that it amounts to a crackdown on opposing views.
On Wednesday, ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s show “indefinitely” after pressure from the Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, over the late-night host’s comments about Mr. Kirk.
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