President Trump may be too incompetent to destroy the First Amendment

[Commentary] The large news networks have affiliate stations that are owned by other entities; for NBC, there are about 200 of them. They also have owned-and-operated stations; for NBC, there are 11 such stations, in big markets such as DC, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth and New York, among others. In order for President Donald Trump to wipe out the reporting of NBC News, well, he’d have to upend the licenses of all its affiliates and owned-and-operated stations — an unfathomable act, and one that might even draw condemnation from President Trump’s fellow Republicans.

The autocratic effort couldn’t end there, however. NBC News transmits its reporting every day, all day on MSNBC, its cable arm. Here, President Trump is powerless. Though the FCC regulates certain aspects of the cable television industry, news content ain’t one of them. With his tweet, Trump suggests that he figured there was a big placard somewhere on an FCC shelf with the title, “NBC License.” And that he could stop in one day and just rip it up. He’ll just have to accept that the world is more complicated than he’d prefer. He’s as unsuited for his job as his job is unsuited for his appetites.