Trump Demands Boycott of DirecTV

(NewsReady.com) – Former President Donald Trump has called on Americans to boycott an AT&T subsidiary after it dropped a conservative news channel. It’s the second time DirecTV has done this to a right-wing outlet, and Trump has had enough of it. He’s announced that he’s dropping the service and urging others to do the same.

Former President Donald Trump Wednesday night joined the outcry against AT&T DirecTV's removal of NEWSMAX from its satellite and cable systems, calling it "disgusting" and saying that the move was a "big blow to the Republican Party and to America itself." https://t.co/mN9H2cK8mZ pic.twitter.com/CQCIrmNUQT

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) January 26, 2023

Last January, DirecTV, a cable, satellite and streaming TV service that’s been owned by AT&T since 2015, dropped One America News Network from its channels. Many Conservatives complained at the time, calling it out as an example of left-wing bias in the media, but the network stuck to its decision. Now it’s done it again. On January 24, the last Newsmax broadcast went out on DirecTV; it won’t air anymore after the two companies failed to resolve a discussion over fees.

Trump reacted angrily to the news. Posting on Truth Social, he said it was unacceptable for the service to “drop very popular NEWSMAX, without explanation.” He vowed to end any links with DirecTV and its parent company, and went on to say this is another reason Republicans need to win in 2024.

Is this as simple as Trump believes, though? In fact, DirecTV does have an explanation of why it dropped Newsmax; the cable provider says it repeatedly “made it clear to Newsmax that we wanted to continue to offer the network” but couldn’t meet the company’s demand for higher fees without having to push up prices for its subscribers.

Further, this time, it doesn’t seem to be political bias because DirecTV has already replaced Newsmax with another conservative network. On January 26, the company announced it reached a deal with The First TV, a network that features Fox host Bill O’Reilly. Newsmax might be gone from the service, but conservative politics is still hanging in there.