Brendan Carr lets Trump steal taxpayer money for campaign ads
By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit ·
Brendan Carr refuses to review taxpayer-funded ads promoting Donald Trump, enabling a corrupt diversion of public funds for partisan propaganda that violates the basic tenets of democracy.
Brendan Carr is not doing his job. As Chair of the Federal Communications Commission, his duty is to the public interest. Instead, he is acting as a bodyguard for a man who treats the U.S. Treasury like a personal piggy bank. By refusing to review taxpayer-funded ads that promote Donald Trump, Carr is shielding a blatant theft of public resources. I grew up in Flint, Michigan. I know what happens when the state stops serving the people and starts serving the powerful. It usually ends with the vulnerable paying the price for the crimes of the elite.
A taxpayer-funded ego trip
The Trump administration is using the Department of Homeland Security to buy political influence. Al Jazeera reports that the agency planned to spend money on television advertisements. These ads do not explain government programs. They do not help citizens navigate the law. Instead, they feature Donald Trump in monochrome, walking in slow motion. He speaks of a “final battle” to “demolish the deep state” and “expel the warmongers from our government.”
The Washington Post reports that the administration bought this space on CNN and MS NOW. This is a strange choice, given that Donald Trump barred those same networks from the White House grounds. The ads even use music without permission. The artist JMSN wrote on X that he does not want to be affiliated with the administration. This is not public service. This is a high-budget vanity project paid for by the people.
The regulatory sword and shield
Brendan Carr claims these ads are “normal-course public service announcements” and “don’t raise any red flags,” according to NBC News. He is lying. There is nothing normal about using public funds to tell the country to “defeat communism.”
While Carr shields the President, he uses the FCC as a weapon against critics. This year, the FCC ordered Disney’s eight owned-and-operated television stations to file license renewals early. This happened after a joke about Melania Trump on ABC. Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, called this a “political stunt.” She noted the agency's “double standard” when it comes to investigative decisions. Carr claims the Disney probe is about diversity practices, not speech. But the timing tells the real story. The FCC is a shield for the boss and a sword for the enemies.
The lie of the PSA
The White House argues that these are not campaign ads because Donald Trump is not on the ballot. They claim the ads are simply a reminder for Americans to “love their country.” This is the strongest case the administration can make, but it falls apart under the slightest pressure. Public Citizen noted that the campaign used one of these same ads in 2024. You do not use a campaign ad for a PSA unless you are trying to trick the public.
This blurring of the line between state and campaign is a repeat of the Ukraine scandal. In that case, official power was used for personal political gain. The ads do not inform the public. They promote a man who has floated a third term and sold “Trump 2028” merchandise. When the ads talk about “reigniting American manufacturing,” they aren't citing policy. They are selling a brand.
This is the Hatch Act in action. The Hatch Act of 1939 prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch from engaging in political activity. It exempts only the president and vice president. The mechanism here is identical: using government resources and civil service employees for partisan political gain. By ignoring this, Carr is not just being "normal." He is helping to dismantle the wall between the government and a political party.
Brendan Carr and Donald Trump are treating the American taxpayer as an involuntary donor to a permanent campaign. This is felony criminal theft of government property. Justice requires that the money be paid back to the Treasury. The officials who authorized this propaganda must be held accountable. The FCC is no longer a regulator; it is a tool for coercion and retaliation. When the people who write the rules are the ones breaking them, the only counterweight we have is the law. It is time to stop asking for a review and start filing the indictments.