Washington, D.C. — On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order attempting to end federal funding of National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Trump is continuing his political retribution tour of trashing the First Amendment rights of perceived political enemies and Americans he dislikes, while at the same time inviting right-wing influencers who have repeatedly promoted proven falsehoods to the White House Press Corps. Demand Progress has been marshaling its supporters to call on Congress to defend public funding for PBS and NPR.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Corporate Power Director Emily Peterson-Cassin:
“When testifying before Congress in 1969, Fred Rogers quoted a children’s song he’d written asking ‘what do you do with the mad that you feel?’ What President Trump does with the mad he feels is attack Big Bird.
President Trump is lashing out at PBS and NPR because they dare to puncture his bubble of fawning, false, inflammatory, right-wing media by reporting the obvious truth. It is clear that a man who tailored the White House press corps to include more lying bootlickers has no actual interest in combating bias and partisanship. What the president wants is to threaten and silence anyone who doesn’t go along with his twisted, closed-off worldview. He is abusing his constitutional authorities to push his own brand of bias and partisanship. Congress must push back and prevent the president from trying to control the information that Americans see and hear.”