ABC AND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ARE NOW LOCKED IN A MAJOR THE VIEW SHOWDOWN CQ🚨

ABC is responding to the FCC’s probe into The View and accusing the agency of potentially violating the First Amendment.

In a new petition, the network claimed recent actions from the Trump administration’s regulatory agency “threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech,” following months of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Chairman Brendan Carr’s direct attacks against the long-running morning show.

The petition — filed on Thursday, May 7, and first covered by The New York Times — follows the FCC chair’s claim the the FCC had “raised serious questions” with The View. In February, Carr announced the agency was exploring “an enforcement action” against the show after it welcomed James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, as a guest. The series, which launched in 1997, was reportedly under investigation for potentially violating the FCC’s Equal Time Rule, a restriction that required broadcasters to provide commensurate airtime to opposing candidates, if requested.

Carr also wrote in a release shared to X in January that late night and daytime TV programs had an “obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities” — despite a decision from the FCC in 2006 to exempt The Tonight Show and despite the fact that political candidates have appeared on similarly structured talk shows without equal airtime being provided for their opponents for decades.

Per the petition, in March 2026, the FCC required ABC’s Houston affiliate, KTRK, to file a new request regarding if The View remains a “bona fide news interview program” and qualifies for the exemption. ABC claimed that “it has never been disputed that The View qualifies as a bona fide news interview program” and that, in 2002, ABC “requested and obtained a Declaratory Ruling from the Mass Media Bureau confirming that status.”

“The Commission’s order to file this Petition for Declaratory Ruling is unprecedented, beyond the Commission’s authority, and counterproductive to the Commission’s stated goal of encouraging free speech and open political discussion,” ABC claimed. “The Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to ‘The View’ and more broadly.”

Elsewhere in the petition, the network argued that while “some may dislike certain — or even most — of the viewpoints expressed on The View or similar shows,” that “dislike” cannot “justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views.”

It also shared that the FCC has not made similar claims to other media programs and that “such a clear disparity in the treatment of broadcasters that ought to be subject to the same treatment under law raises serious concerns about viewpoint discrimination and retaliatory targeting.”

In a Tuesday, April 28 interview on The Katie Miller Podcast, Carr explained that “bona fide news programs” don’t “have to comply with equal time requirements.” He said “questions have been raised about whether they are, in fact, bona fide news.”

Per Deadline, he also told reporters in February that his agency was “taking a look” at the show regarding the Talarico interview. At the time, The View had no comment when PEOPLE reached out regarding the FCC chairman’s comments.

A network source told PEOPLE in February that the panel show regularly hosts sitting leaders and political candidates from across the political spectrum to discuss current events, which is consistent with how The View has operated for years.