Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Wednesday he believes AT&T-owned DirecTV threw the conservative news channel off its lineup because of its political views.
"It sure seems like it," Scott told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." "Newsmax has really built a great channel, a great platform. They get their views out there and they do a great job."
DirecTV cut Newsmax's signal Jan. 24, blocking the network from more than 13 million customers of the satellite service, DirecTV Stream and AT&T U-Verse. It is the second time in the past year AT&T has canceled a conservative news channel, with DirecTV deplatforming One America News in April 2022.
DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to cancel/complain
Yet, DirecTV has retained 22 left-leaning news networks, many with far lower ratings than Newsmax, which is the fourth-highest-rated cable news show in the nation.
"They're just picking and getting rid of conservative views, and they can't do that," Scott said. "They have to treat everybody fairly."
Scott told Newsmax on Jan. 25 the Senate should conduct hearings on AT&T's censorship of Newsmax and conservative voices.
"We've got to get to the bottom of this," Scott said then. "This censorship by companies like AT&T of conservative voices, what Google does, what Facebook does, what Elon Musk has put out about what Twitter did, this has got to stop.
"We need to hold hearings here, we need to get to the bottom of this. I'm going to do everything that I can."
Scott's Republican Senate colleagues Ted Cruz of Texas, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Mike Lee of Utah sent a letter dated Feb. 1 to the CEOs of DirectTV and its controlling shareholders, AT&T and TPG, voicing deep concerns about DirecTV's decision to drop Newsmax. The letter demanded answers and information about the decision.
"It has been alleged that DirecTV pays substantial sums to numerous channels that are politically left-of-center, even when those channels have substantially lower ratings than Newsmax," the senators wrote.
"And, it has been alleged that DirecTV refused to pay any net sums whatsoever to Newsmax — and expressly stated that it never would pay any net sums to Newsmax — even though explicitly liberal stations with substantially fewer viewers were receiving millions of dollars from DirecTV."
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.
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