DHS Secretary Mullin Calls ABC and NBC “Shameful” for Skipping Trump’s Election Speech — A Day After Trump Demanded Their Broadcast Licenses Be Pulled.
President Trump delivered a primetime “election security” address from the White House East Room on July 16, 2026, at roughly 9 p.m. ET. Two of the four major broadcast networks didn’t carry it live: ABC aired a new episode of Press Your Luck, and NBC ran a rerun of The Americas instead, each streaming the speech separately on its news app rather than its broadcast signal.
Trump used part of the speech itself to attack the decision, calling it a “plot” and demanding the FCC revoke ABC and NBC’s broadcast licenses. The next day, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (R) went further in TV remarks, calling the networks “shameful” and asking what they were “trying to cover up.”
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez (D) pushed back the same week, calling the license-revocation threat “a naked attempt to bully broadcasters” that the agency has no legal authority to act on. No fine, hearing, or license action has followed on either side.
- 54–45 — the U.S. Senate vote that confirmed Markwayne Mullin as DHS Secretary on March 24, 2026 — per the Senate's official roll call
- 2 of 4 — major broadcast networks — ABC and NBC — that skipped live coverage of Trump's July 16 address entirely, per Deadline's network-by-network breakdown
- ~5 minutes — how early CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil's network cut away from the address, even though it aired the speech live with fact-check framing
- 0 — fines, hearings, or license revocations the FCC has issued against ABC or NBC over the non-carriage, as of this writing
- 1 — sitting FCC commissioner, Anna Gomez (D), who has publicly rejected Trump's license-revocation demand as beyond the agency's authority
Trump’s address was billed as an election-security speech, delivered from the White House East Room the evening of July 16. The five major English-language networks split three ways in how they handled it. Fox News carried the full speech live, but paired it with an on-air disclaimer that the network “has not seen the evidence yet” on Trump’s voting-machine claims. CBS also aired it live, with anchor Tony Dokoupil framing the network’s obligation directly on air — then cut away roughly five minutes before the speech ended.
“This speech will be made, it will be news, and it's our job to cover the news.”
Tony Dokoupil · CBS News anchor, July 16, 2026
ABC and NBC took a different path entirely. ABC aired a new episode of its game show Press Your Luck; NBC ran a rerun of the nature series The Americas. Neither network skipped the speech outright — both streamed it separately, ABC on ABC News Live and NBC on NBC News NOW — but neither put it on the linear broadcast signal that reaches the widest audience. CNN made the same call, declining linear coverage and streaming the address through CNN.com and CNN All Access instead, according to Deadline’s network-by-network accounting.
Trump didn’t wait for a press conference to respond — he used the speech itself. Mid-address, he accused ABC and NBC of coordinating to bury the story and demanded regulatory consequences.
“In a rare move, NBC and ABC fake news have both said they would not cover this speech... Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses.”
President Trump · live remarks, July 16, 2026, via The Hollywood Reporter and The Washington Post
He framed the non-carriage as evidence of something deliberate rather than an ordinary scheduling call.
“They know how corrupt our system is and they don't want to reveal it.”
President Trump · live remarks, July 16, 2026, via The Hollywood Reporter
No named ABC or NBC executive has been identified in any source as the specific decision-maker behind the programming call, and this piece does not speculate about who made it. The Washington Post also notes that the FCC chair’s own legal authority over programming decisions like this one is limited — a point that becomes central the next day.
The following day, July 17, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (R) took up the same argument in TV and press remarks, going after ABC and NBC by name and questioning their motives for the programming choice.
“How shameful is that? ABC and NBC not carrying that. Why? What are they trying to cover up?”
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (R) · via Fox News, July 17, 2026
“Why wouldn't they want to inform the American people? Why are they calling themselves a news outlet if they're not actually trying to put the news out there?”
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (R) · via Fox News, July 17, 2026
Mullin drew a contrast to how the same networks covered the 2020 election, arguing they applied a double standard.
“Two major networks didn't want to cover it? I think the question really should say why. Because they sure covered the other part of it when they were saying that it was the most secure election ever. What facts did they have? Because they didn't have facts. President Trump gave facts. Today we're giving facts.”
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (R) · via Fox News, July 17, 2026
Mullin is a recent addition to the cabinet. He was confirmed as DHS Secretary by the Senate 54–45 on March 24, 2026, and sworn in the next day, according to DHS’s own confirmation record and the Senate’s roll call. A former U.S. Senator representing Oklahoma, Mullin replaced Kristi Noem, who was removed from the post around the same time.
The demand landed on an agency that, as the Washington Post noted, does not have clear legal authority to punish a station over a single programming decision like this one. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez (D) made that argument publicly and directly, rejecting both the legal premise and the political framing behind Trump’s call.
“The FCC has no authority to punish a station for refusing to air a blatantly political speech. This is a naked attempt to bully broadcasters, and the FCC should have no part in it.”
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez (D) · via Mediaite
As of this writing, the FCC has taken no formal action against ABC or NBC over the non-carriage — no fine, no hearing, no license review tied specifically to this incident. Trump’s demand and Mullin’s follow-on remarks remain public statements and political pressure, not regulatory findings.
President Trump (R) — delivered the July 16 address; called the non-carriage a “plot” and demanded the FCC revoke ABC and NBC’s broadcast licenses.
Markwayne Mullin (R) — DHS Secretary since March 25, 2026, formerly U.S. Senator for Oklahoma; called ABC and NBC “shameful” for skipping live coverage.
Anna Gomez (D) — FCC Commissioner; says the agency has “no authority” to act on Trump’s license-revocation demand.
Tony Dokoupil — CBS News anchor; defended airing the speech live, then cut away roughly five minutes early.
Kristi Noem — Mullin’s predecessor as DHS Secretary, removed from the post around March 2026.
Strip away the rhetoric and a narrow set of facts holds up across nine-plus independent outlets: ABC and NBC did not put Trump’s July 16 address on their linear broadcast signals, both streamed it separately on their digital news platforms, and both networks aired regular entertainment programming — a game show and a nature-documentary rerun — in the normal time slot instead. Fox and CBS both aired the speech live, with different framing choices; CNN streamed it rather than airing it linear, matching ABC and NBC’s approach. Trump responded within the speech itself, and Mullin escalated the criticism publicly the next day. Gomez disputed the legal basis for any FCC action. No fine, hearing, or license revocation has actually occurred.
What remains genuinely unknown — and what this piece does not claim to know — is why ABC and NBC made the programming call they made. No network executive at either company has gone on record explaining the decision, and no public statement from either network identifying a specific person or rationale was found in the reporting reviewed for this story.
ABC and NBC skipped linear coverage of a presidential address and streamed it instead. Trump called that a “plot” and demanded their licenses. DHS Secretary Mullin called the networks “shameful” the next day. An FCC commissioner says the agency has no authority to act on the threat — and, as of this writing, it hasn’t.
