McCarthy Promises Congressional Hearings Over DirecTV’s Decision to Remove Newsmax

After conservative news network Newsmax found itself abruptly stripped from the channel lineup on AT&T’s DirecTV, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed to Newsmax’s Sean Spicer that he found the situation “very concerning” During the interview, he stated that he had promised to hold congressional hearings on the matter.

Spicer and Spicer discussed this topic on Spicer’s program “Spicer & Company” McCarthy declared Monday “you’re going to see action taken, because we believe it’s responsible to allow everybody to have a choice of what news they want to listen to.” AT&T’s shocking action shocked cable viewers last Wednesday, especially considering that it was rated the 4th most popular cable news channel with an audience of approximately 25 million viewers.

“NEWSMAX should not be treated any differently based upon them being a conservative news outlet,” Says a href=”https://twitter.com/SpeakerMcCarthy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@SpeakerMcCarthy.

“This is very concerning to me and I hope we get this corrected.” pic.twitter.com/t6YHqBda8W

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) January 30, 2023

“It really comes down to a free speech matter,” McCarthy Continued. “Newsmax should never be punished simply because they’re a conservative news outlet.”

Although Newsmax was removed from the channel’s lineup due to cost cutting by DirecTV was blamed, many conservatives are nervous because One America News, an explicitly conservative network, was also taken out of the channel lineup during the time AT&T was in decline. Pressured By the congressional Democrats to end the network ‘disinformation.’

According to Newsmax, “DirecTV refused to negotiate with Newsmax on a fair price for fees, telling the network it would never pay any license fee.”

Newsmax reported that every cable news network gets paid fees, even CNN, which has been in financial trouble. A historic and embarrassingly large loss In overall viewership for years.

Christopher Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax, said that DirecTV’s decision was essentially “political discrimination” “a blatant act of censorship.”

Kevin McCarthy, House Speaker, said that he is not happy with the deplatforming NEWSMAX. “very concerning,” It was promised that Congress would hold hearings soon on the issue. https://t.co/YS2rgtCJai pic.twitter.com/RaW4m0nC7F

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) January 31, 2023

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House Republicans Respond

There are currently forty Republicans in Congress, including popular conservatives like Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and Paul Gosar. Signed a letter AT&T accuse DirecTV “actively working to limit conservative viewpoints on its system.”

“This is extremely concerning for Members of Congress because it suppresses political discourse and hamstrings our ability to connect with our constituents,” The letter was read.

Republicans pledged to investigate “the extent to which House Democrats and officials in federal office colluded with private companies to limit, restrict, and circumvent First Amendment rights.”

Representative Elise Stefanik (current House Republican Conference Chair) also signed the letter. Later, she posted the message to her twitter account “it would be unacceptable to de-platform Newsmax, a popular news channel that many of my constituents in #NY21 depend on for news.”

It would be inexcusable to de-platform Newsmax. This is a popular news channel that many constituents are involved with. #NY21 Depend on us for news.https://t.co/hYAchN6Quq”>https://t.co/hYAchN6Quq

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) January 25, 2023

Florida Senator Rick Scott also addressed this issue last week.

“We’ve got to get to the bottom of this,” Scott said. “This censorship by companies like AT&T of conservative voices, [like] This must stop.

Sen. Scott continued “We need to hold hearings here, we need to get to the bottom of this. I’m going to do everything I can. They already got rid of another conservative network earlier, sometime last year, now Newsmax. That’s what they’re trying to do, they’re trying to shut down our voices, and we’ve got to fight for this.”

Rick Scott demands congressional hearings on DirecTV’s dropping of Newsmax

(Note: The US is on the verge of defaulting on its debts without Congress taking any action.https://t.co/mKteAg3Vrn”>pic.twitter.com/mKteAg3Vrn

— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) January 26, 2023

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This is not a positive trend

Over the last few years, conservatives were vindicated by their concerns about Big Tech, the US government and popular media outlets. They colluded together To either spread Democrat-led narratives, such as the bogus Russia conspiracy to undermine Trump White House, or to work in tandem censor opposing voices.

The current GOP-led bill, being introduced by Jim Jordan of Ohio, would prohibit federal agencies from directly working with Big Tech companies such Facebook and Twitter. This is after it was discovered that both the FBI and Twitter were working together. censor online conversations Information about the Hunter Biden Laptop story.

“The collusion between bureaucrats and Big Tech has gone on for far too long,” Jordan. “Government agencies shouldn’t censor the free speech of Americans.”

The bill is called “The Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act” This would stop federal officials from exercising their authority. “including contracting, grant making, rule making, licensing, permitting, investigatory, or enforcement actions —to promote the censorship of lawful speech or advocate that a third party or private entity censor speech.”