During Wednesday's House Oversight Committee hearing on Twitter's role in blocking access to an October 2020 New York Post story about Hunter Biden, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., called for an additional hearing to examine AT&T/DirecTV's cancellation of Newsmax and OAN on its broadcast service.
"It's clear that conservative voices are being silenced on social media and the mainstream [media]," said Burchett. "I would also suggest we look at holding one on DirecTV, Newsmax, and OAN."
Burchett's statement came after his Wednesday appearance on Newsmax with Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., telling "National Report" they spoke out against Big Tech censorship of conservative speech, including DirecTV's deplatforming of Newsmax on Jan. 24.
DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to cancel/complain
"When you have Big Government working with Big Tech and big, other big business to censor people, to me, that is reminiscent of fascism," Biggs commented. "What they're doing is they're trying to censor craft a narrative, and this is all being done for political purposes."
Biggs added the board of AT&T "wants to appease the most leftist, woke" of their stockholders.
"But most of the stockholders want them to make money, and this is not a way for them to make money, or is it a way for them to preserve freedom. This is why we have to be vocal and make a stand of this," added Biggs.
DirecTV says it removed Newsmax and OAN as "cost-cutting" measures, but the company last reported profits of $2.7 billion.
It also claims Newsmax wants "excessive fees" that would cost in the "tens of millions" of dollars, but Newsmax has denied these claims, saying it was seeking a fee of approximately $1 per cable subscriber per year — a fraction of the "tens of millions" DirecTV claims.
"This was never about the fees being excessive," said Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax. "DirecTV's position has always been that Newsmax of all cable news channels should never get any cable fee whatsoever, not one penny."
Burchett, meanwhile, told Newsmax that "if you're trying to appease a faculty lounge in a college in California," then AT&T's move may have made sense to them. However, "the reality is, this is a liberal AT&T and Big Tech trying to censor conservative thought."
The Tennessee Republican also called Biggs a "modern-day prophet" and commented that, of his previous statements, "everything is accurate."
"I would tell people, let's cast our dollar votes elsewhere," Burchett said. "Tell these knuckleheads we're not going to buy their garbage anymore. We're going to spend our money elsewhere ... America is bigger than this. It's a big tent, and everybody has the right to have an opinion, even if you're conservative."
Actions to Take Now
1. DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to cancel/complain.
2. AT&T customers call toll free at 888-855-2338 to cancel/complain for U-verse, cellular, and wireless 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: iWantNewsmax.com.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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