Jen Psaki

Now, coming out of anyone else's mouth, that might sound fine.

But remember, Brendan Carr is the guy who actually pressured broadcasters to take one of Trump's perceived media enemies, the late night host Jimmy Kimmel, off the air because he didn't like what Kimmel was saying.

At the time, Carr told broadcasters to, quote, take action, end quote, on Kimmel, and that he and the FCC could, quote, do this the easy way or the hard way, language that even Ted Cruz likened to a mafia shakedown.

Now, while the company says that Carr's comments had nothing to do with their decision, for a period of time, Nexstar Media Group, the company that owns the most local TV stations in the United States, did in fact take Jimmy Kimmel off their airwaves.

which raised eyebrows because Nexstar, that company that owns those local TV stations, is trying to acquire one of its biggest competitors.

That's a company called Tegna, which also owns a bunch of local news stations.

But that proposed $6.2 billion merger is likely illegal.

under current Federal Communications Commission regulations.

Because if the merger were to go through, that would mean that one company would own 265 local TV stations that reach a whopping 80% of the households in the country.

That's media consolidation.

It would be giving one singular company way too much control over the nation's local news to pass regulatory muster.

But earlier this month, Trump himself demanded that the Nexstar-Tegna merger go through, saying, quote, we need more competition against the enemy.

The fake news national TV networks, end quote, letting good deals.

He continues, by the way, letting good deals get done like Nextar Tegna will help knock out the fake news.

OK, now we're done.

Yesterday on an earnings call, the CEO of Nextar said the company appreciates the support of the president and expects the merger to go through by the end of June.

Of course he does.

Because the dynamic here is clear.

You do something that Donald Trump and Brendan Carr like, you make your content and more quote unquote, quote, patriotic and more Trump friendly.

And you start with the national anthem and maybe you do the Pledge of Allegiance.