This is the Tweet from President Trump That Made Comcast Shares Fall

Shares of Comcast were falling on Monday after President Trump tweeted that the company “routinely violates antitrust laws.”

“American Cable Association has big problems with Comcast. They say that Comcast routinely violates Antitrust Laws. ‘These guys are acting much worse, and have much more potential for damage to consumers, than anything AT&T-Time Warner would do.’ Charlie Gasparino,” Trump tweeted.

The American Cable Association (ACA) has also called for the Department of Justice to investigate Comcast. According to the ACA, the company owsn “significant must-have local programming,” which allows it to raise prices and harm its consumers.

In a letter to Attorney General Delrahim, the ACA wrote, “The American Cable Association (ACA), which represents more than 700 smaller video and broadband providers, shares the concern of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that video and broadband distribution firms that are vertically integrated with video programmers can cause substantial competitive harm. We, therefore, are heartened that you have notified Comcast NBCUniversal (NBCU) on August 14th that the DOJ will continue monitoring its activities now that the remedial conditions in the 2011 Consent Decree and the order of the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) have expired.

However, the vertically integrated Comcast-NBCU poses a much greater threat to competition in markets across the country than the AT&T-Time Warner combination (AT&T-TW) that was just consummated, especially because Comcast-NBCU has a combination of cable systems, an NBCU Owned and Operated station, and a Regional Sports Network in seven markets -up from six in 2011. Further, Comcast-NBCU has shown a willingness to harm rivals, even while being subject to the 2011 DOJ and FCC conditions. In light of these concerns, which also have been expressed by members of Congress and a diverse array of stakeholders, the Antitrust Division should immediately open an investigation into the firm’s behavior. ACA and its members will cooperate fully to assist in the investigation, including by providing information about Comcast-NBCU’s practices.”

“We believe that ACA’s letter is without merit and constitutes an inappropriate attempt to gain leverage in the commercial marketplace,” Comcast defended itself to CNBC.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and have not been compensated for this article.