Rally for Newsmax - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
Rally for Newsmax
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There they go again.

First, it was One America News Network, with AT&T’s DirecTV deplatforming the conservative channel barely a year ago.

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.) 

Newsmax, of course, is a jewel in the glitter that is conservative media. Founded by Christopher Ruddy, it is now the fourth-highest-rated cable news channel and, according to the Nielsen ratings, “a top 16th ranked channel” of all those daytime cable channels.

On the surface, this is, according to DirecTV, all about licensing fees. In fact, of the top 75 channels on DirecTV, every channel gets fees — except for Newsmax.

The hardcore fact of life here is that AT&T, like all manner of woke leftists running corporate America, is trying to shut down a particular target in conservative media — again. Said Newsmax founder Ruddy:

This is a blatant act of political discrimination and censorship against Newsmax.

Exactly.

No less than former President Donald Trump has jumped into this battle. Newsmax headlined:

President Trump Calls AT&T DirecTV ‘Disgusting’ for Newsmax Drop, Calls for Boycott

The story reported this: 

In a post on his Truth Social, Trump wrote:

“WOW. AT&T DIRECTV REMOVES NEWSMAX FROM ITS CHANNEL LINEUP. This disgusting move comes after “deplatforming” OAN last year. The Radical Left seems to have taken over the mind and soul of AT&T. This is a big blow to the Republican Party, and to America itself.”

Trump continued: “For DIRECTV to drop very popular NEWSMAX, without explanation, will not be accepted. I, for one, will be dropping all association with AT&T and DIRECTV, and I have plenty. This is just one of many reasons why we must WIN IN 2024!!!”

Bingo.

It needs to be said that this business of silencing conservative media and those who are its stars has been going on as long as conservative media has existed.

Previous leftist targets for silencing, which have been noted in this space, included the late Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham, not to mention Fox News itself. Back there in the Clinton era, the Clintons used the Justice Department to target this very publication — The American Spectator — and shut it down. Thankfully, this attempt to silence The American Spectator failed.

Which is to say that the silencing of Newsmax by AT&T is just the latest effort by woke leftists to silence an institution of conservative media.

In fact, in the very long ago, there was a conservative actor named Ronald Reagan. During the Kennedy administration, Reagan was the host of General Electric Theater. He was also a spokesman for GE, and was sent as a visitor to GE plants around the country. As a celebrity, he gave lots of speeches at the plants and elsewhere on what he called the “rubber chicken circuit.” 

And in those speeches, the conservative Reagan would target the Kennedy administration using his conservative philosophy. Suffice it to say that this was not going over well with the Kennedys, and the tale eventually emerged that the chairman of General Electric was contacted by the administration — and Reagan was fired. 

Which is to say that the impulse to silence conservatives has been around a very long time.

Back there in 2012, when there was a move by the Left to deplatform Rush Limbaugh by bullying his sponsors to leave him, this bullying appeared to be working — at first. Seven of Rush’s sponsors publicly abandoned him. With this assault underway, this space ran a piece titled “Rally for Rush.” Right here.  

In it, I urged conservatives to take on Rush’s critics directly. To fight back. I did the research and in this space was published the name of the departing sponsors; the sponsor companies’ CEOs; and the companies’ email addresses, snail mail addresses, and phone numbers. And, oh yes, their campaign contributions, if any.

It worked. The offending sponsors were flooded with angry emails and phone calls. Conservatives dropped the sponsors’ products like so many hot rocks. One sponsor, overwhelmed, tried to get back on the show and Rush refused, as so many new sponsors had signed up. Another sponsor saw its stock crash. The move to get Rush off the radio quickly backfired and collapsed.

One of the reasons the fight against the Rush critics was so successful was this fact that I had cited — a story of the day that appeared in Politico. The headline: 

Poll: More conservatives than liberals

The story said this in part: 

Conservatives continue to make up the largest segment of political views in the country, outnumbering liberals nearly two-to-one, according to a new poll Thursday.

The Gallup survey found that 40 percent of Americans consider themselves conservative; 35 percent consider themselves moderate; and 21 percent see themselves as liberal. The figures did not change from 2010.

For the third straight year, conservatives outnumbered both moderates and liberals.

Which is to say that those who wanted to silence Rush Limbaugh ran headlong into the rock that was Rush’s vast audience of conservative supporters.

Now it’s Newsmax’s turn, and yes, it’s time to Rally for Newsmax. And as with Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax has a rock of a conservative audience that has no intention of letting it be silenced by a woke corporate leftist.

Newsmax itself has taken the lead in fighting back. It has published the following information on its site, as well as repeatedly airing it on its multitude of shows. 

  1. First, if you are a DirecTV customer call them toll free at 877-763-9762 and demand they bring NEWSMAX back on air or you can CANCEL! [When you speak to a live operator, let them know you’re aware NEWSMAX’s live stream is ending soon on other platforms, so unless you get it on DIRECTV you will have to cancel their service.]If you are an AT&T customer for any of their products or services, call them and demand they end their censorship of NEWSMAX or you will cancel. Call AT&T toll free at 888-855-2338
  2. Second, call your Congressmen and Senator at 202-224-3121 and tell them you want NEWSMAX kept on all major cable/satellite systems, including AT&T’s DirecTV, and that you oppose liberal political discrimination and censorship against conservative media like NEWSMAX.Go to our online petition and get more info at: iWantNEWSMAX.com
  3. Third, if you oppose woke censorship of conservative media, sign our petition in SUPPORT of NEWSMAX.

Conservatives should call, email, Truth Social, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and anything else that comes to mind. They should also get rid of any service or product tied to AT&T. That means divesting themselves from every last AT&T service or product they have, and doing so with the knowledge that this war on conservative media is an ongoing war, and, as was true with AT&T’s silencing of One America News Network, there will always be another target.

But there’s more here.

DirecTV is owned by AT&T. And AT&T is run by one John Stankey.

Considering his passion for silencing conservative free speech, you could call him what he in fact appears to be — an anti-free speech insurrectionist. A woke corporate leftist.

And like all woke corporation chiefs, Stankey plays the political game with his and his company’s campaign contributions, laying out the cash for both parties.

A trip over here to the website Open Secrets brings up a list of both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate who have received AT&T campaign cash from Stankey’s company.

In terms of campaign cash in the 2022 election cycle, Democrats received $1,229,000 in AT&T contributions while Republicans received $1,293,900 for a total of $2,524,900.

One question now is whether his Republican campaign cash recipients will stand up — man up — and give back their latest AT&T campaign contribution.

Feel free to contact these members and ask if they will give back their AT&T contribution.

The bottom line? This is yet another battle where the Left wants to censor the Right. Newsmax today, One America News Network before that, and on and on back through the years with one prominent conservative after another.

So.

As noted here, 40-plus Republican House members have stood up for Newsmax. Good for them. And there is more they can do — specifically, they can hold hearings to investigate the weaponization of AT&T to shut down conservative networks, with AT&T doing exactly what Pelosi Democrats in Congress have been demanding, as The American Spectator’s own Debra Saunders detailed here.

In short? Enough is enough. 

Now is the time to rally for Newsmax. 

Jeffrey Lord
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Jeffrey Lord, a contributing editor to The American Spectator, is a former aide to Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. An author and former CNN commentator, he writes from Pennsylvania at jlpa1@aol.com. His new book, Swamp Wars: Donald Trump and The New American Populism vs. The Old Order, is now out from Bombardier Books.
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