‘Fire Elon, Save Elmo’: Democrats pretend the Republican hysteria on PBS and NPR at the hearing of the Doge Committee
Republicans on a supporting congress in support Elon Muskis the so -called Doge’s efforts dragged NPR AND PBS The leadership to a public hearing in Washington, DC, Wednesday to accuse the stores publicly supported of transforming into “Radical Eco Left Chambers” with “anti-American” prejudices.
President of the Committee Marjorie Taylor Greene And other republican members have accused the networks of spectators and children of washing the brain with a “communist” agenda and argued that they would have to lose funding for taxpayers, a Long -date GoP question supported by Donald Trump and musk in their efforts for Expenditure of the intestinal government.
“For too long, federal taxpayers have been forced to finance distorted news,” said Greene in his opening observations. “This must end. And now it must end.”
The CEO of NPR Katherine Maher and the CEO of PBS Paula Kerger defended the missions of their organization, and the democrats of the Committee used characters loved from the PBS programming to Skewer Musk and Trump and underline what they characterized as the partisan distraction of the Republicans to dismantle the government.
“How many millions of dollars a month spend taxpayers for Daniel Tiger to play golf?” He asked for the democratic representative Greg Casar, with a sign “Fire Elon, Save Elmo” behind him.
“Miss Piggy has ever been captured in an attempt to channel billions of dollars into government contracts for herself and her companies?” he said. “How about Arthur’s Aardvark? Have you ever fired government guard dogs Investigate his companies? … maybe you are trying to define NPR because they exhibit this type of corruption. “
He observed that the funding for public transmission amount to a sixth of what the moss companies do.
“But you won’t see that Elon Musk is grilled by this committee,” he said. “I saw a lot, but pointing the finger at Elmo to cover for Elon Musk could be a new minimum for the Marjorie Committee Taylor Greene.”
The company supported by the Government for public broadcasts receives about $ 500 million from the congress every tax year. NPR, the national broadcaster that produces some of its most popular programming distributed to local stations, receives about 1 % of its funding from the Federal Government. The stations of the members who produce news and local programs receive about 10 percent of their funds from the government.
PBS receives about 15 percent of his funding from the government.
Over 70 percent of the company for company funding for public broadcasts supports public radio and public television systems, non -commercial and non -profitable purpose, some of which are the only local stores working for rural and remote areas. The Republicans proposed to close it completely.
“We are more than kind to have,” said the president of the public media of Alaska and Ulman, testifying on behalf of the stations of the members who are based on these funding. “We are essential, especially in remote and rural places where commercial broadcasts cannot be successful”.
The representative James Comer and other Republicans of the Committee have said that satellite radio, podcasts and other new media make radio and public television obsolete.
At one point, Comer attacked NPR for his “editorial standards”, not realizing that Maher was referring to the guidelines of the outlet for relationships and modification, not the columns of opinion. He stopped it as he explained the difference.
“I lost trust in public radio,” said “I don’t think, Madam President, they should have a pity of federal funds”.
Tuesday, Trump told journalists in the oval office that he would have liked to “deceive both NPR and PBS.
“I think it’s very unfair, it was very biased – the entire group,” said Trump, who led a War long with contradictory print points. “The type of money that is wasted and is a very distorted vision.”
During the hearing, democratic representative. Jasmine Crockett They criticized the Republicans in the Committee for grilling the public media for the coverage with which I disagree while they did not have supervision auditions for Musk’s doge team.
“Freedom of speech does not concern anything you want someone to say. The idea that you want to close all those who are not Fox News It’s Toro ****, “he said.” You don’t want to hear the opinions of anyone else. “
In a statement following the hearing, the president of the National Press Club Mike Balsamo said: “The wild rhetoric of legislators at today’s hearing undermines the work of a free press and journalists who have a solid track record for accuracy.
Greene and many other republican members have also referred to a video of a drag Queen Greene called “monster” and “repulsive” – but the clip has never been broadcast in the PBS programming
The clip has been described in a project by The Wnet Group, the parent company of the public television stations in New York, in collaboration with the New York City Education Department, according to Kerger.
“It didn’t air. It was a digital project,” William Timmons told the republican representative. “It was mistakenly put on our website for our New York City station. It was not intended for national distribution. It was immediately shot down. It was never broadcast.”
However, Greene has played the video again in his declaration of closing.
“He’s repugnant,” he said. “This is not what children aged 3 and 8 should ever look at.”
The Committee has “bent the lowest levels of partisan and political theater to keep an audition to pursue artists of the caliber of helmet and Cookies Monster and Arthur L’Aardvark”, said the democratic representative Stephen Lynch, “all for the unforgivable sin of the teaching of the alphabet to the low -income low -income families.
