Shares of NBC-parent Comcast dipped slightly Wednesday after President Donald Trump tweeted about challenging the NBC network license.
“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!” Trump said in a Wednesday tweet at 9:55 am ET.
Comcast trading volume jumped and the shares fell to their lows of the day following the tweet.
The stock was down 0.8 percent as of 10:32 am in New York, while the S&P 500 was little changed.
Trump’s tweet could raise fears of higher government scrutiny on Comcast, although networks are not licensed by any organization. The Federal Communications Commission requires licenses for individual radio and television stations.
“The President is an incredible advocate of the First Amendment,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said during an Oct. 5 briefing. “With the First Amendment, with those freedoms also come responsibilities. And you have a responsibility to tell the truth, to be accurate.”
Comcast shares are up about 8.5 percent for the year. The stock fell sharply in early September after one of its executives said the company expects a large subscriber loss during the third quarter.
The company did not immediately return a call for comment. The White House did not immediately return a call for clarification on the tweet.
Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.
— CNBC’s Peter Schacknow contributed to this report.
