Author and political commentator Jeffrey Lord told Newsmax on Saturday that a nationwide "ruling class" of elites with similar political views regardless of their political party is working to stop conservative media institutions from communicating with the majority of the country.
"This is exactly what's at work in the DirecTV hit on Newsmax," Lord said, referencing the recent deplatforming of Newsmax by AT&T's DirecTV. "You've got the ruling class elites at AT&T and DirecTV, and they have no time for the 'country class' that is the audience of Newsmax."
The companies dropped Newsmax, the fourth largest cable news channel from their satellite television and streaming lineup on Tuesday, cutting the programming off from their 13 million subscribers.
"This is a pretty extensive issue, and I think we are going to be hearing a lot more about it, and we should," Lord said. "It's a very disturbing thing because what you've got here are people just trying to shut [former President Donald Trump] down and shut down Americans, thereby shutting off the ability to communicate."
Lord said the move is going to anger a lot of people and draw a backlash.
In an opinion piece for the American Spectator Thursday, Lord said that AT&T was doing the bidding of the "woke," "authoritarian left."
"First, it was One America News Network, with AT&T's DirecTV deplatforming the conservative channel barely a year ago," Lord wrote. "But now the woke corporation that is a player on the authoritarian left — but I repeat myself — has now silenced Newsmax TV on DirecTV. Deplatformed it. (And, full disclosure, I am a Newsmax contributor.)"
CNN reported Thursday that DirecTV said in a statement that it wanted to continue carrying the network, but dropped it due to a "fee dispute" that would lead to "significantly higher costs that we would have to pass on to our broad customer base."
"This is a blatant act of political discrimination and censorship against Newsmax," CEO Chris Ruddy said. "The most extreme liberal channels, even with tiny ratings, get fees from AT&T's DirecTV, but Newsmax and OAN need to be deplatformed."
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.
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