Former Trump White House Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp says "woke companies" like DirecTV have "gone too far" and urged Congress to take action after the satellite service dropped conservative outlet Newsmax from its lineup earlier this week.
"I'm hoping our Republican majority in the House — that they hold a hearing where they bring in AT&T and DirecTV top corporate executives to explain why they are targeting conservative channels," Schlapp said Friday during an appearance on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now."
"Obviously, we've seen deplatforming of other conservative channels yet DirecTV continues to support over 22 left-leaning television channels that have bad ratings and can't compete with Newsmax and these other conservative channels.
"I hope Congress takes action immediately," she added. "This is a bipartisan issue. These woke companies have gone too far and the American people need to stand up and boycott DirecTV and make sure these big corporations don't dictate the terms when it comes to censorship."
Newsmax contends DirecTV's decision is based on political bias.
"This is a blatant act of political discrimination and censorship against Newsmax," the network's CEO, Chris Ruddy, said this week. "The most extreme liberal channels, even with tiny ratings, get fees from AT&T's DirecTV, but Newsmax and OAN need to be deplatformed."
DirecTV, in a statement to The Hill, said it "made it clear to Newsmax that we wanted to continue to offer the network," but ultimately the network's demands for rate increases "would have led to significantly higher costs that we would have to pass on to our broad customer base."
It added that it would "fill this available channel with new content" and on Thursday announced the addition of conservative opinion and commentary network The First to its lineup.
Several dozen House Republicans this week sent a letter to DirecTV threatening to investigate its decision to allow the contract to expire.
"This is extremely concerning for Members of Congress because it suppresses political discourse and hamstrings our ability to connect with our constituents," the Republicans wrote in their letter.
"If Newsmax is removed from DirecTV, in less than a year House Republicans will have lost two of the three cable news channels that reach conservative voters on a platform that primarily serves conservative-leaning areas of the country."
Actions to Take Now
1. DirecTV customers: Call them toll free at 877-763-9762 and demand they bring NEWSMAX back on air. President Trump urges you CANCEL!
- Important: If DirecTV tells you we're still negotiating, that is a lie! They have told NEWSMAX we will never be on a regular cable channel. DirecTV also replaced NEWSMAX with a channel that has no news and no ratings. Also, NEWSMAX's livestream is ending soon on other platforms, so unless you get it on DirecTV you will have to cancel their service.
2. AT&T customers: Call toll free at 888-855-2338, for any of their cellphones, wireless products, or services, and demand they end their censorship of NEWSMAX. President Trump has urged you to cancel their services.
3. Call your congressman or senator at 202-224-3121 and demand they stop AT&T/DirecTV's censorship of NEWSMAX — ask them to give you a date on the hearings!
4. Go to our online petition and get more info at: iWantNewsmax.com.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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