FCC Chairman Pai: Whether NY Times, CNN, NBC are 'fake news' is a ‘political debate’

Federal Communications Commissioner Chairman Ajit Pai said that President Trump’s charge that media outlets including The New York Times, CNN and NBC are “fake news” is a “political debate,” that he would not “wade into.”

When asked by separate reporters during the FCC’s monthly open meeting if those organizations were “fake news,” as President Trump has repeatedly dismissed them, Chairman Pai said both times that he would not comment. “Well look, that’s a political debate that people in the political arena have been debating back and forth,” Chairman Pai said. “My job is to not to be a political actor. It is simply to be somebody at the FCC who, as I said, is administering the laws of the United States. I’m simply not going to wade into that kind of political debate.”

Later he said, “Several years ago, I pointed out that I thought the news media performed a core job, exercising the First Amendment function of gathering news and the importance of distributing it to communities across this country, and keeping people informed,” Pai said. “I stand by those comments.”