The White House accused NPR and PBS of producing “woke propaganda” as the Trump administration reportedly plans to slash almost all federal funding for public broadcasting.
The New York Times reported that the White House intends to ask Congress to cut more than $1 billion earmarked for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the publicly funded nonprofit that helps underwrite public media organizations.
It will make the request when Congress returns from recess on April 28, opening a 45-day window in which lawmakers can either approve the “rescission” of two years of federal cash or allow the funding to be restored, NPR reported.
NPR and PBS, America’s primary public broadcasting networks, are largely funded by individual donors and corporate sponsors, but both receive additional funds from the CPB.
Most of the federal government funding goes to local stations, and it remains to be seen whether legislators would want to put outlets in their constituencies at risk — especially in the rural areas most heavily dependent on taxpayer money.
NPR said eliminating funding for the CPB would have a “devastating impact on American communities across the nation that rely on public radio for trusted local and national news, culture, lifesaving emergency alerts, and public safety information.”
Paula Kerger, PBS CEO and president, said the Trump administration’s effort to halt funding for public media would “disrupt the essential service PBS and local member stations provide to the American people.”
“There’s nothing more American than PBS, and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress,” she said.
On Monday, the White House published a statement that criticized NPR and PBS.
The statement, which made no mention of the funding request, cherry-picked a series of “trash” NPR and PBS stories and condemned the networks for an apparent “intolerance of non-leftist viewpoints.”
Earlier this month on social media, Trump signaled his intense dislike of the two broadcasters, posting in all caps: “REPUBLICANS MUST DEFUND AND TOTALLY DISASSOCIATE THEMSELVES FROM NPR & PBS, THE RADICAL LEFT ‘MONSTERS’ THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR COUNTRY!”
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) led a House subcommittee last month in which she accused NPR and PBS executives of pushing “radical left positions.”
Trump has gone on the offensive against the media since his return to office, including by denying journalists access to the Oval Office and calling for networks to be punished.