Disney's ABC escalated its fight with the Federal Communications Commission this week, accusing the regulatory agency of using its probe into "The View" to chill political speech in violation of the First Amendment. In a Thursday filing, the network directly challenged FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's effort to strip the talk show of its news exemption status.

The dispute stems from an FCC letter sent in March to an ABC-owned station in Houston regarding a February interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. The agency demanded the station justify why "The View" should remain classified as a news program, which currently exempts it from equal-time rules that would require offering similar airtime to political opponents.

ABC fired back that while some may dislike viewpoints expressed on the show, such disapproval cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views. The network's filing marks its firmest pushback yet against the Trump administration's FCC leadership.