The View cut political candidate clips over FCC fears, Disney says

A Disney lawyer told a federal judge that The View stopped showing candidate clips during Hot Topics because of the FCC’s equal time rule. ABC is suing to stop an early review of its station licenses.

A change at The View this election season came out in a courtroom, not on the show.

Disney attorney Beth Wilkinson told a federal judge on Oct. 6 that the ABC talk show stopped showing clips of political candidates during its Hot Topics segment this election cycle, Deadline reported. She said the reason was concern about the FCC’s equal time rule, according to The Daily Beast.

Wilkinson was in court asking U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan to block the FCC’s early review of eight ABC station licenses.

Why did The View stop showing candidate clips?

It comes down to the equal time rule. Under FCC rules, a TV station that gives airtime to a political candidate may have to offer the same chance to that candidate’s opponents. Bona fide news interview programs are exempt.

ABC argues The View counts as one of those news programs. The FCC opened an inquiry after the show hosted Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico in February.

Semafor reported in July that The View had cut back on booking political candidates after the FCC’s inquiry. Wilkinson’s comments in court went further, describing the change to Hot Topics.

What else did Disney tell the judge?

Wilkinson argued that the FCC’s actions are already changing how ABC works. The network is “making different editorial decisions,” she said, according to Reason.

“We sit with our head on the guillotine,” she told the judge. She called losing the stations’ licenses the “death penalty,” Deadline reported.

She also said ABC streamed President Donald Trump’s July speech on ABC News Live after deciding not to air it on regular TV, out of concern the president would be angry, The Daily Beast reported.

What does the FCC say about ABC’s licenses?

The FCC says the license review has nothing to do with The View or ABC’s news coverage.

Government lawyer Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel told the court the early review is tied to an investigation into Disney’s diversity practices, after Disney didn’t turn over documents the FCC asked for, Reason reported. The government called it a “routine regulatory inquiry,” according to JURIST.

In a court filing, the FCC also argued that any harm to ABC’s speech is “self-inflicted.” And at the hearing, the government’s lawyer argued that ABC’s decision not to air Trump’s July speech showed it wasn’t serving the public interest, according to Reason.

What did the judge say?

AliKhan didn’t rule, and she hasn’t said when she will. But she pressed the government on its reasons.

She asked what made this case “so different that you needed to call for an early license renewal,” Reason reported. She also brought up a March post from FCC Chair Brendan Carr that warned broadcasters running “hoaxes and news distortions” that they could lose their licenses.

How did ABC’s fight with the FCC start?

It has been building for more than a year.

• September 2025: ABC briefly pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air after Carr criticized Kimmel’s comments. The show returned within a week.

• Early 2026: The FCC opened an inquiry into The View after its February interview with Talarico.

• April 2026: The FCC ordered early license reviews for eight ABC-owned stations, one day after Trump urged ABC to fire Kimmel, JD Journal reported. The agency hadn’t used that kind of review in more than 50 years.

• August 2026: Disney sued the FCC.

• Oct. 6, 2026: Disney asked the judge to block the reviews.

Is The View still talking politics?

Yes. The hosts still debate the news every weekday, and the show is still on ABC.

What’s missing, according to Disney’s own lawyer, is the candidates themselves in Hot Topics, at least through this cycle. The midterm elections are Nov. 3.

Neither ABC nor The View has commented beyond what was said in court. The Daily Beast said it reached out to the show.

Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.

Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hat Tips:

• Deadline via The Daily Beast, Oct. 6, 2026: Hot Topics change, equal time concern, July speech, ‘death penalty’

• Reason, Oct. 7, 2026: Wilkinson and AliKhan quotes, government’s arguments, timeline

• JURIST, Oct. 7, 2026: case details, ‘routine regulatory inquiry,’ ‘self-inflicted’ filing

• JD Journal, Oct. 7, 2026: license review dates, Kimmel timing, Talarico inquiry

• Mandatory via Reality Tea, Oct. 7, 2026: Talarico interview, news exemption argument

• Semafor, July 5, 2026: The View’s candidate bookings

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