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Carr Touts Alaska Broadband Push at Wasilla Rally, Oct. 13, 2026

October 13, 2026 · Forbes Breaking News · 0:03:26

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What happened

Brendan Carr spoke briefly on October 13, 2026, at President Trump’s rally in Wasilla, Alaska for Senator Dan Sullivan, in remarks carried by Forbes Breaking News. The President announced from the stage that Carr had informed him the FCC would vote that month to invest an additional $162 million to expand high-speed internet in Alaska, then called Carr to the podium. Carr said he was appearing in his personal capacity and that it was his third trip to Alaska: on the first, he recalled, he flew halfway out the Aleutian chain to Unalaska and turned on his phone to find it read “no service.” “We have brought hundreds of millions of dollars to the state. Thousands of people are newly connected. We have high-speed internet going across the state. But the job’s not done,” Carr said. “We are committed to working with Senator Sullivan until we can finish the job of getting every single person in Alaska connected to high-speed internet,” as the rally transcript recorded. In a statement the next day, Carr said “many thousands” of Alaskan households had gained broadband access through the FCC’s funding efforts, according to Broadband Breakfast.

The appearance drew formal criticism: the Democracy Defenders Fund and Reporters Without Borders filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel asking it to investigate whether Carr, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick violated the Hatch Act by touting their agencies’ work at a partisan campaign event, as the Democracy Defenders Fund announced. Carr had noted on stage that he was speaking in his personal capacity.

Why it matters

The Wasilla remarks carry the next dated step in Carr’s universal-service record: a commission vote, announced for October 2026, on $162 million in additional Alaska mobile broadband support, paired with his standing commitment to connect every person in the state. They also mark the point where his Build America advocacy and the midterm campaign openly met — an agency chairman announcing a funding vote from a rally stage — which is why the Hatch Act complaint that followed is part of this record.

Scoreboard watch

This is a candidate item for the weekly scoreboard: the FCC’s announced October 2026 vote on $162 million in additional Alaska broadband support, and Carr’s October 13, 2026 commitment to finish connecting every person in Alaska to high-speed internet — each as stated at the rally, to be checked against the commission’s vote and the program’s connection figures.

Sources: Forbes Breaking News, “Brendan Carr Touts Work To Deploy High-Speed Internet Across Alaska At Rally,” October 14, 2026 (remarks, embedded above); Broadband Breakfast, October 2026, rally transcript and Carr’s follow-up statement; Democracy Defenders Fund, October 2026, on the Office of Special Counsel complaint. All figures and characterizations as stated by Mr. Carr and the President at the rally.