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By Eric Mack
(NEWSMAX) Donald Trump continued his rebuke of AT&T DirecTV’s censorship of Newsmax on Saturday night, warning AT&T’s stock fall is “only going to get worse” as disenfranchised conservatives boycott the satellite and streaming services, along with the stock.
“AT&T must reinstate Newsmax immediately, and OAN while they’re at it, because it’s only going to get worse for AT&T as people flock to leave both their stock and their platform,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, linking to Newsmax’s report on AT&T’s stock losing $10 billion in value since the Jan. 24 removal of Newsmax off AT&T DirecTV’s platforms.
“Welcome to the Trump Era!”
DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to cancel/complain
Days after the Newsmax drop, Trump called on Americans to cancel not only DirecTV but all AT&T services, including cellular and wireless services.
“I think it’s deplorable,” Trump said of AT&T DirecTV’s anti-conservative activism. “Newsmax did well in the ratings, so they actually took something off that was actually doing well in the ratings, as opposed to other shows that don’t.”
AT&T, the 70% owner of DirecTV, deplatformed two conservative channels in the past year, with OAN cancelled last April.
Since DirecTV dropped Newsmax on Jan. 24, AT&T’s stock has fallen by almost 7% — not only wiping nearly $10 billion from its value — but seriously underperforming the market with the S&P 500 actually rising 0.37% between Jan. 25 and Feb. 10.
Newsmax has been alerting its supporters about AT&T’s decision through its network, the fourth highest-rated cable news channel, reaching 25 million Americans, according to Nielsen.
Newsmax also reaches more than 40 million Americans through significant online platforms, apps, its social media network, as well as radio and print outlets.
The reaction against AT&T and DirecTV for the deplatforming has been swift and serious from Washington lawmakers and national leaders.
In January, Sen. Ted Cruz led a group of senators, including Tom Cotton, Mike Lee and Lindsey Graham, in writing a letter to AT&T demanding to know why Newsmax was removed when many lesser-rated liberal news channels remain on their systems.
“The silencing of conservative speech at the request of government officials is a direct assault on free speech and a threat to democracy,” Cruz and the other senators wrote, noting that Newsmax and OAN had both been targeted by House Democrats for deplatforming.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has joined with Trump in urging conservatives to cancel AT&T and DirecTV products.
Other leaders — including former Arkansas GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee; Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.; and Dennis Prager — have encouraged Americans to switch their service providers.
DirecTV claimed both Newsmax and OAN were removed as “cost-cutting” measures.
At the same time, the service continues to carry 22 left-leaning news channels, many with much lower ratings than Newsmax. All of those channels get hefty license fees, all higher than what Newsmax was seeking.
“DirecTV’s position has always been that Newsmax — of all cable news channels — should never get any cable fee whatsoever, not one penny,” Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said.
Ruddy said AT&T’s targeting of Newsmax for unequal treatment is “an act of political discrimination and blatant censorship.”
