FCC Chairman Puts TV Networks on Notice About ‘Fake Polls’ as Midterms Approach

In an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned networks that there would be consequences for what he called “fake polls” which might mislead voters before Election Day.

While it was unclear what precisely he was referring to, Carr’s warning comes less than a month after an organization which admitted to showing two candidates with major leads in critical races admitted it had faked the polls “as a short-term social experiment” to show how easily manipulated information could get past gatekeepers.

“The one thing that President Trump gets, fundamentally, is that broadcast TV is completely different than other forms of distribution, including cable,” Carr said during his appearance on “The Sunday Briefing.”

“And so many broadcasters right now, they [want to] break the deal that they cut with the American people,” he continued.

“They get billions of dollars in taxpayer, effectively, subsidized distribution. And what they’re supposed to do in exchange is operate in the public interest, not some sort of narrow partisan interest.”

“I think President Trump is over the target, and we’re looking at a lot of actions. For instance, there’s a lot of interest right now in fake polls that are out there,” Carr added.

“And so the FCC may put guidance out soon to remind broadcasters about their obligations with respect to not airing fake polls, particularly if they’re done to suppress people heading into the fall.”

FCC Chair Brendan Carr said the agency is “looking at a lot of actions” after Trump called for NBC’s Kristen Welker to face FCC “punishment” over her characterization of his endorsement record. Carr also said the FCC may issue guidance on broadcasters airing “fake polls.” pic.twitter.com/amcXScqCdN

— Election Integrity (@USElecIntegrity) September 7, 2026

The move came after Kristen Welker of NBC News, claimed that Trump had “mixed results” in his endorsement record while acknowledging a recent victory with the candidate he endorsed in the South Carolina special Senate primary, Darline Graham.

This set off alarm bells among media watchdogs, and led NBC to issue a statement about Welker saying they “stand by her” after her “mixed results” remark.

As I’ve said many times, the FCC has no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn’t like.

These threats to press freedom are dangerous. They undermine the foundation of our democracy, and they have no place in it. https://t.co/MFWeaybHMQ

— Anna M. Gomez (@AGomezFCC) August 30, 2026

With his “fake polls” remark, however, Carr could have been targeting Median Strategies, an organization which may have played a part in deciding who the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin governor was despite apparently not actually conducting any polls.

Median Strategies, a start-up, had billed itself as a remedy for exactly the issue it was exposing: “Polling has a credibility problem,” it wrote on social media when it opened up shop in early August.

“Ours is the fix: no partisan clients, no campaign or party money, numbers that go wherever the data takes them even when it’s inconvenient. Trustworthy polling, rebuilt.”

In Wisconsin, it supposedly conducted a widely cited poll that showed controversial socialist candidate Francesca Hong up by 23 points over her nearest competitor. She ended up losing narrowly to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley when the primary was held last month.

“We got Wisconsin wrong- and by quite a margin too,” the organization admitted — but continued releasing polls, including one showing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass leading by almost 12 points over her opponent, Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman.

At this point, the Los Angeles Times began to question Median Strategies’ bona fides, which led to the group admitting that it wasn’t a polling outfit at all — but an outfit designed to show how easily poorly conducted, or even non-conducted, polls could find their way into the media ecosystem.

LA Times: Karen Bass cheered the results after the fake survey was released last week.

“Doing the work, showing up, and gaining momentum. Let’s do this, LA!” Bass posted on Twitter from her campaign account, citing Median Strategies as the source.

The post has since been… https://t.co/oLnUTIK7A4 pic.twitter.com/UbJjq6ZBQr

— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) August 17, 2026

“Median Strategies has concluded its polling project and will not publish additional polls,” Median’s website stated after the ruse was uncovered.

So this is pretty wild: A polling firm that came out of nowhere to show Francesca Hong with a 23-point lead over David Crowley in the Wisconsin primary has shut down and said its whole operation was bogus pic.twitter.com/QTmlXkvGPC

— Brett LoGiurato (@BrettLoGiurato) August 18, 2026

“All previously published polling releases have been withdrawn and should not be cited or treated as genuine polling data. Median Strategies was created as a short-term social experiment examining how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification.”

It’s unclear and likely unmeasurable what effect, if any, the poll had on Hong supporters staying away on primary day due to overconfidence in her chances of victory.

“We are not seeking publicity or attribution for the individuals involved and are declining interviews,” the company told the Times in an email.

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