President Trump criticizes FCC for moving to block Sinclair-Tribune merger

President Donald Trump came to the defense of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s proposed merger with Tribune Media, days after the Federal Communications Commission raised “serious concerns” about the deal and began legal proceedings to challenge it on grounds the companies had misled regulators. President Trump said it was “so sad and unfair” that the FCC, an independent agency, did not approve the merger, a $3.9 billion transaction that would create a conservative television giant that originally hoped to reach roughly 70 percent of US households. In his tweet, the president stressed how the deal would provide a “conservative voice for and of the People," though politics are not supposed to factor into merger considerations. “Liberal Fake News NBC and Comcast gets approved, much bigger, but not Sinclair. Disgraceful!” the president tweeted. President Trump compared the proposed tie-up to Comcast’s purchase of NBC Universal in 2011, a much different deal — one that combined a cable giant and a content powerhouse — that the FCC had approved. President Trump previously has blasted that merger on the campaign trail.

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, in a brief tweet of her own, quickly responded to Trump’s comments: “Disagree. ”