Penna Dexter

President Trump recently told reporters he would ”be honored” to defund National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. He said they are “a waste of money.” But it’s worse than that.

Both PBS and NPR have long exhibited a decidedly liberal political bias and, more recently, have advanced far-left positions on issues like gender ideology.

Currently, PBS and NPR receive approximately $500,000,000 per year in federal funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a private non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 1967, when there were three network television choices: CBS, NBC, and ABC. Today there are hundreds of channels available for viewing on various devices. Plus, as Washington Post columnist George Will points out, there are 15,000 commercial radio stations, more than 425 U.S. satellite radio channels, and over 4 million registered podcasts worldwide.

The heads of PBS and NPR testified at a recent House Oversight Committee hearing. PBS President Paula Kerger told the committee, “We bring a diversity of viewpoints.”

But CEO Katherine Maher conceded in her testimony that NPR botched coverage of Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop. House members also pointed out that the network misinformed the public on COVID-19 origins and the Russian collusion hoax.

According to Victoria Taft at P J Media, “Eighty-seven out of 87 editors at NPR are leftist Democrats.” She wonders, “why are we funding them?” If we stop, she writes, PBS “stations won’t be destitute.”

They fundraise through telethons and on-air messages — really ads. They receive funds from leftist organizations, like the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has called for removing all taxpayer funding of both PBS and NPR. At the House hearing, she told their leaders, “We believe that you all can hate us on your own dime.”

Conservatives in Congress often advocate defunding these entities. But many legislators fear local pushback. If they can’t summon the courage, DOGE can help them.