Bozell Issues Open Letter to Trump: $75 Million in Coronavirus Bill Wasted on PBS

MRC Pres. Brent Bozell

On Thursday morning, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell released an open letter to President Donald Trump about the $75 million grant Public Broadcasting (CPB) received in the overall coronavirus bill. Bozell explained just how wasteful that money is and what $75 million could do if put to actually FIGHTING the spread of the virus. He declared, “Now more than ever, Americans must pull together in a spirit of unity. Not in the spirit of division that CPB has advocated through its decades of biased programming.”

Here is Bozell’s full letter to the President:

Dear Mr. President,

As you are aware, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) received a $75 million grant from the Federal Government as a part of the CARES Act. We believe that was misguided. Just as Amazon, Microsoft, Ford Motor Corporation, and Starbucks have given so generously to help in the fight against COVID-19, so should the CPB give.

The CARES Act is already law and the money the government issued to the CPB is unlikely to be returned. Regardless, it is worth noting what this money could have been spent on instead. Seventy-five million dollars could have purchased:

• 300,000 Covid-19 test kits or,
• 4,166 ventilators or,
• 21,428 hospital beds or,
• 192,307,692 masks or,
• 357,483,318 pairs of medical gloves or,
• 12,500,000 bottles of hand sanitizer

At this point in our country’s history, all of these things are infinitely better uses of taxpayer money than giving it to left-wing outlets like NPR and PBS, both of which attack you and your administration continuously. According to CPB’s own website, it already has a bloated annual budget of $445 million. As you have appropriately called for yet again this year, federal funding for CPB should be completely eliminated. As with any other private entity in a free society, the CPB should have to compete in the free market to convince consumers that its programming is worth their financial support.

Anything else is legalized plunder.

The CPB produces programs promoting values which many Americans just don’t agree with. The federal government, by funding CPB, is forcing Americans to support values they oppose.

What could be more antithetical to a free society?

That is why your proposal to eliminate all federal funding for CPB is completely justified. There will undoubtedly be proposals for more stimulus packages going forward. When that happens, we encourage you to push back hard against funding for such entities as CPB. No amount of classical music, Ken Burns documentaries, or “Morning Editions” is worth one saved human life.

Ideally, CPB’s board would do the patriotic thing and voluntarily return this money. But as that is unlikely to happen, the next best thing would be to oppose such gratuitous grants when they are proposed in the future. You can count on our support and the millions of Americans who support the principles of the free market.

Now more than ever, Americans must pull together in a spirit of unity. Not in the spirit of division that CPB has advocated through its decades of biased programming.

Sincerely,

L. Brent Bozell III