The head of the Federal Communications Commission says broadcast networks could be breaking federal rules by airing fake polls, a warning that landed less than two weeks before the November midterm election and named no specific target. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said there has been a significant surge in entirely fake polls and suppression polls designed to interfere with the electoral process, but he offered no evidence or details identifying which surveys he meant.
Carr made the warning in a post on X, as reported by the Washington Post. According to Reuters, Carr suggested that airing such polls could violate the FCC's news-distortion rules, raising the prospect that outlets sharing results the administration views as deceptive could face regulatory consequences. Reuters, whose reporting was authored by David Shepardson, said NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox did not immediately comment on Carr's remarks.
No Examples, No Clarity From the Agency
Politico reported that Carr warned broadcasters Wednesday to vet their polling carefully, writing that there has been a significant surge in entirely Fake Polls and Suppression Polls intended to alter voter turnout and enthusiasm, according to Politico. The outlet noted that Carr didn't offer any examples of fake polling, and FCC spokespeople did not immediately explain what he meant. Per Reuters, the FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether it planned to issue formal guidance on polls.
Separately, Reuters reported that President Donald Trump has pressured Carr to crack down on U.S. broadcasters and journalists, and that Trump has called on Carr to punish journalists including NBC's Kristen Welker. Trump has said many polls were rigged and has rejected surveys showing Democrats significantly ahead of Republicans in the midterm races, per the same Reuters account.
What the FCC's News-Distortion Policy Actually Covers
The FCC's own guidance states that it has maintained a policy against news distortion in over-the-air broadcasts for more than 50 years, according to the Federal Communications Commission. That policy draws a line between deliberate distortion and mere inaccuracy or difference of opinion, the agency's own materials show. Reuters reported that the policy requires a significant event, not merely a minor or incidental aspect of a news report, and that broadcasters face potential penalties only for deliberately distorting a factual news report — expressions of opinion or honest mistakes are not actionable under the rules.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez pushed back on the implications of Carr's warning, saying broadcasters reporting publicly available polling data in good faith should not be punished when a poll turns out to be wrong, Reuters reported. Gomez said an incorrect poll, which is not uncommon, would not fit the news-distortion policy, and that the rules do not apply to a station reporting polling data in good faith.
Fabrication Admissions Fuel the Debate
The warning follows real-world cases of polling fraud. Wedgewood Polls released a statement admitting that it had fabricated results, even though its data had been folded into polling averages by multiple outlets, according to Deadline. The New York Times said it had included 15 Wedgewood polls released between June and October in its database, Deadline reported. Statistician Nate Silver removed Wedgewood's polls from his aggregation database, saying they tended to run about one point more favorable to Democrats than the consensus, as reported by the Washington Times.
A separate firm, Median Strategies, admitted in August to faking polls in the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary and the Los Angeles mayoral primary, according to Forbes. Those admissions have added weight to concerns about polling integrity even as critics note that Carr's own warning named no specific culprit.
Trump's Approval Sinks to a Term-Low 31%
The warning arrives as a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 31% of Americans approve of Trump's performance in office, down a percentage point from two weeks earlier and the lowest level in either of his presidential terms. The survey, conducted online and closing Monday, gathered responses from 1,679 U.S. adults, including 1,279 registered voters, per Reuters. Ipsos's own polling page lists the survey as conducted October 16-19 and covering views toward the 2026 midterm elections.
The same poll found that 68% of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, including 37% of self-identified Republicans, Reuters reported. Asked which party they would support in a generic congressional ballot, 47% of registered voters picked Democrats compared with 35% who chose Republicans, according to the same survey.
A Broader Pattern of FCC Scrutiny on Broadcasters
Carr's polling warning follows other moves by the FCC affecting broadcast programming. Reuters reported that Carr ordered an unprecedented early license review for all eight Disney-owned ABC TV stations in April. The FCC has also said that late-night and daytime talk shows no longer qualify as bona fide news programs exempt from equal-time rules for political-candidate interviews, according to Reuters. Disney confirmed in a filing that The View and Jimmy Kimmel Live had stopped interviewing candidates on their broadcast programs.
