Just a few weeks after Paramount decided to pay off President Donald Trump for what legal experts described as a frivolous lawsuit, the Trump administration has approved a merger between the media giant and Skydance. The regulatory decision is raising concerns about corporate bribery and payoffs while Trump and other Republicans work to silence dissent.
On July 1, Paramount said it would pay out $16 million to Trump’s presidential library to make the lawsuit stemming from his whining about an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris that aired last year. Then last Thursday, CBS said it would be cancelling “The Late Show,” hosted by longtime Trump critic Stephen Colbert. Trump praised the cancellation writing, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired.”
Then on Thursday the FCC said it would approve the $8 billion merger between CBS parent Paramount and Skydance.
The decision was announced by the Federal Communications Commission alongside a message from FCC chairman Brendan Carr praising concessions made by Paramount to move news coverage in a more conservative direction.
“Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company’s programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum,” Carr said.
Among those concessions is the decision by the combined entity to eliminate existing diversity, equity, and inclusion policies—which have been the target of the Trump administration as it seeks to erase and roll back gains made following the Civil Rights Movement, while pushing Trump’s racist agenda.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been among the most vocal critics of the apparent bribery between the media company and the administration.
“Even with Donald Trump playing king, CEOs should remember that bribery is STILL ILLEGAL,” Warren wrote after the announcement.
In an appearance on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” on Wednesday, Warren explained that Trump “is exercising control over our media and signaling to everybody out there: If you cross Donald Trump there is potentially a huge price to pay.”
The administration and their Republican allies in Congress have been using the power of the government to take action against outlets they perceive as hostile to the right. Congressional Republicans—following a directive from Trump—recently voted to eliminate all federal funding for public broadcasting, a longtime goal of conservatives who object to fact-based news reporting from outlets like PBS and NPR.
But despite the political and corporate machinations, the Republicans haven’t silenced everyone yet.
The decision to cancel Colbert has been criticized by lawmakers and there has been a public outpouring of support for him from fellow comedians—even his rivals in the late-night talk show space. Comedians Jimmy Fallon, Seth Myers, John Oliver, and Jon Stewart all appeared on “Late Night” following CBS’ decision.
And on Monday the White House reacted with outrage after “South Park,” which is a Paramount property, aired an episode mocking Trump and Paramount’s decision to bow to him.
The public is also not being swayed. In a recently released Gallup poll Trump’s approval rating continued to drop, and he has particularly cratered with independent voters where his rating has fallen 25 percentage points since he was sworn in.
Perhaps more bribes are needed.