Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on people to reject doing business with DirecTV and AT&T after the telecom firms dropped the conservative news outlet Newsmax.
In an interview with conservative talk-radio host Howie Carr, Trump called it a “disgrace” that DirecTV, which is owned by AT&T, de-platformed both Newsmax, which is based in Florida, and the One America News Network.
“A lot of people are angry at AT&T, and they should be,” Trump told Carr.
“They know what do with their anger: You don’t do business with them,” he added.
Related: Florida Gov. DeSantis Calls On Congress To Investigate DirecTV Dropping Conservatives
“They can make up their own minds, but I think it’s a disgrace, and what they’ve done to Newsmax and OAN, by the way the same thing.”
Continuing, Trump added that Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy has “done a fantastic job” and condemned AT&T for censoring and canceling conservatives.
DirecTV and AT&T, he said, are “trying to censor the conservative voices.”
“They’ve done a fantastic job at Newsmax,” Trump added. “And to have a large portion of people taken off the air for political reasons is just disgraceful.”
The former president concluded that Newsmax received solid ratings yet was dumped by DirecTV “for political reasons.”
“But I think they’re paying a big price for it,” he noted.
Related: Rep. Matt Gaetz, 41 GOP Lawmakers Fight The De-Platforming Of Newsmax
Newsmax, which reported on Trump’s comments, noted that its TV operation got higher viewer ratings than many of the 22 liberal networks still carried by DirecTV but was receiving less in licensing fees than those outlets.
As Trump noted, Republicans are coming after DirecTV for the dropping of Newsmax and OAN.
The Free Press reported last month that 42 congressional Republicans, including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, issued a letter to DirecTV seeking answers for this “assault on free speech.”
Afterward, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said he supported the action as a way to protect conservatives from “intellectual discrimination.”
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