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David Ellison’s Carr Trouble

F.C.C. attack dog Brendan Carr not only regulates the media, he’s proving to be a vociferous media personality, himself. So why won’t he take calls from the would-be mogul who wants to own Paramount?

brendan carr
It’s not just Carr’s newfound slipperiness that has his former allies murmuring—it’s the transformation of the man himself: Once a self-styled regulatory minimalist, Carr has reemerged as a veritable culture warrior, repositioning the F.C.C. not as a neutral arbiter, but as an ideological weapon. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Eriq Gardner
April 22, 2025

Ever since Donald Trump made Brendan Carr chairman of the Federal Communications Commission three months ago, the Republican media cop has rarely missed an opportunity to generate news—posting bite-size provocations on X and making himself available for just-sardonic-enough interviews. In short, he’s a regulator who treats the media not only as a sector to oversee, but also as a foil.