FCC chair warns media not to run the “fake polls” Trump keeps complaining about

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has warned broadcasters against airing “fake polls” without context, saying they could breach rules on news distortion or broadcast hoaxes. The warning echoes President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on polling coverage and has prompted former FCC officials to accuse Carr of trying to intimidate broadcasters into self-censorship.

Carr did not identify particular polls or broadcasters, while former FCC chairs and the agency’s sole Democratic commissioner said good-faith reporting on publicly available polling is not a rules violation. The warning followed Wedgewood Polls’ admission that it fabricated data to test whether outlets and polling aggregators would verify its claims; the article also notes a similar incident in August.