California Gov. Gavin Newsom unloaded on FCC Chair Brendan Carr during an interview on Monday, over the FCC chair's warning to media networks to "correct course."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr's media threat "sick" during an interview posted Monday, and referred to President Donald Trump as "Dear Leader."

"He should be revoked. This is — I literally just read that right before I got here. I didn't believe it," Newsom told Semafor. "They had to literally get me the article, and I said, I need another article. Because that stuff, that doesn't happen, that cannot happen in the United States of America."

Carr issued a warning in a social media post that called on broadcast networks to "correct course" in reporting regarding the war in Iran. The post was in response to Trump calling out reporting about the war.

Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at Networth and Chill podcast at the Vox Media Podcast Stage at SXSW on March 15, 2026 in Austin, Texas. Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Brendan Carr participates in a FCC meeting at the Federal Communications Commission headquarters on February 18, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (ick Kern/Getty Images for Vox Media; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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"We’ve already seen this guy and what he’s said and how he’s pointed. We saw, look, you saw Pete Hegseth say he’s looking forward to consolidation of the media that will be, by definition, as he claims, more favorable to their way of life," Newsom continued, according to Semafor. 

"Now, in the middle of a war, now we’re talking about propaganda that suits the ‘Dear Leader?’ Because they don’t like independent media? So we have to have state media and content that’s driven by state media that comports to their perspective of truth?," the governor also said.

Newsom said it was "code red," and that Trump wanted to wreck the country. 

He also responded to a question from Semafor on whether Democrats should take a similar approach with conservative outlets when they can next appoint the FCC chair. 

"No," Newsom said. "I want independent thinkers that hold people to account. I want people to appropriate the rules and regulations as they're drafted in the—you know, with the constitutional constraints and constructs, but also the laws that Congress has enacted, and you enforce those at the executive level with truth and objectivity."

President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office of the White House, on St. Patrick's Day, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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He continued, "And you know, none of that is on display right now. It's all subjectivity. It’s all about kissing the ring. It’s all about crony capitalism. It’s about the great grift. It’s a corruption story in plain sight."

Carr said in his Saturday post to X, "Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up."

In response to Newsom's comments, White House Spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital, "President Trump has the First Amendment right to call out the mainstream media for being Fake News, which is an opinion shared by the majority of the American people. Gavin Newsom similarly has the First Amendment right to spew nonsense instead of doing something as governor about the runaway taxes, cost of living, and regulations that are driving millions of people and businesses out of California." 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Brendan Carr, commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), during an open commission meeting at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 18, 2026.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump said in a post to Truth Social on Sunday that he is "thrilled" to see Carr look into the licenses of some news outlets that he called "corrupt and highly unpatriotic ‘news’ organizations."

Trump also said in the post, "They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, and never get, as I used to say in The Apprentice, ‘FIRED.’"

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The FCC did not immediately return Fox News Digital's requests for comment.

Fox News' Elizabeth Heckman contributed to this report.

Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.

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