Senator Richard Blumenthal is calling on officers of the Federal Communications Commission to pledge their support of free speech.
His letter to the FCC followed a series of tweets from President Donald Trump, saying that the commission should revoke the broadcast licenses of stations including NBC.
"This is an affront to the First Amendment, freedom of the press, and founding principles of the communications act," Blumenthal said in his letter to the commission. "A robust, free press is the cornerstone of our democracy -- ensuring public access to news without governmental meddling or censorship."
Blumenthal said the FCC, not the president, has the authority to approve broadcaster licenses and should not base decisions on whether the administration approves of the content.
But Ben Bogardus, an assistant professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University, said politicians and the media shouldn't take the president's bait.
"His tweets are meant to shift attention away from bigger issues on to minor issues that are just critical of him -- for instance, the Las Vegas shooting, gun control, and Puerto Rico on the hurricane recovery -- by talking about the FCC license issue which is a non-issue really because it could never happen," he said.
So far, only one FCC commissioner, Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel, has publicly pledge support for the first amendment in the wake of the tweet storm.
Jessica Floyd contributed to this report.
