Bob Corn-Revere
FIRE's chief counsel who accused Carr of hypocrisy — opposing the FCC acting as 'the nation's speech police' before becoming chairman, then embracing exactly that role.
FIRE Statement
Corn-Revere authored FIRE’s formal statement on the Colbert-Talarico controversy, making two critical arguments:
Selective enforcement is partisan enforcement. The FCC applied equal time pressure to late-night talk shows — which tend to criticize the Trump administration — while explicitly exempting conservative talk radio from scrutiny. “It would be wrong if a Democratic administration demanded conservative talk radio hosts give equal airtime when they interview candidates, and it’s wrong for the Trump administration to demand the same of late night talk show hosts.”
The chilling effect is the point. “America is not made freer when the government leans on someone’s First Amendment rights.” Corn-Revere noted that Carr had previously opposed the FCC acting as “the nation’s speech police” but now embraced that role when it served the administration’s political interests.