Biden’s Controversial FCC Nominee Withdraws Amid Bipartisan Backlash
For well over a year, the White House has been pushing for nominee Gigi Sohn to be confirmed as the next Federal Communications Commission chair despite bipartisan backlash over her record of incendiary rhetoric.
After the far-left candidate’s first nomination fell flat amid criticism of her previous comments, President Joe Biden decided to re-nominate her for a position on the FCC, which oversees regulations regarding television, radio, and other broadcast media.
Although critics have denounced a variety of politically charged comments she had made, particularly on social media, she has attracted especially harsh pushback for her anti-police views. Not only has she backed efforts to defund the police, but she has shared various posts disparaging law enforcement — including one that described cops as “armed goons in riot gear with tear gas.”
Her sentiments were roundly rejected by many Republicans, at least a few Democrats, and the Fraternal Order of Police, which publicly opposed her nomination in a statement asserting that her “social media, public policy stances, and employment history has indicated serious animus towards law enforcement officers and the rule of law.”
Among the Democrats who joined Republicans in expressing concerns about her qualifications were U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).
Faced with persistent congressional opposition and the likelihood that her second nomination process would end the same way as her first, Sohn announced this week that she would voluntarily withdraw from consideration.
Of course, she did not pass up the opportunity to lash out at her critics for what she described as “unrelenting, dishonest, and cruel attacks.”
In her statement on the matter, Sohn claimed: “It is a sad day for our country and our democracy when dominant industries, with assistance from unlimited dark money, get to choose their regulators. And with the help of their friends in the Senate, the powerful cable and media companies have done just that.”
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX) offered a detailed account of Sohn’s controversial history, including her apparent desire to silence conservative viewpoints on public airwaves.
“Ms. Sohn portrays herself as a defender of free speech but has a history of campaigning to censor conservatives,” he said last month. “She calls Fox News ‘dangerous to our democracy’ and has urged the FCC to revoke Sinclair’s broadcast licenses. At the same time, she has a history of fighting against indecency regulations that protect children from exposure to filth on TV. To Ms. Sohn, it seems conservative speech is worse than obscenity.”
