Matt Gaetz Pushes for Inquiry About NPR Affiliate Playing Louis Farrakhan’s Speeches

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Aug 31, 2023

On August 31 2023, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz sent a letter to Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) President and CEO Patricia de Stacy Harrison and National Public Radio (NPR) President and CEO John Lansing. The letter makes an inquiry about the use of taxpayer funds to air Nation of Islam (NOI) leader Louis Farrakhan’s speeches during a weekly show that is broadcasted on an affiliate station.

The Daily Caller first received a copy of the letter to the CEOs regarding  Final Call Radio. This show is broadcasted every Sunday night on NPR affiliate WEAA 88.9. The letter said that the station deems itself as “The Official Voice of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan” and plays his speeches which often have anti-white comments.

WEAA obtained over $250,000 in funding in 2021 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CBP), which is completely funded by Congress.

The radio station is aired in the Washington DC-Baltimore metropolitan region. Farrakhan has a history of “railing against Jews, white people and the LGBT community,” per the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

“Americans would be shocked to learn that black supremacy, ethnic extremism, or historical revisionism of any kind, especially of this magnitude, is being funded by their tax dollars. Sadly, if they accessed WEAA 88.9’s website, they would see that the station received $251,815 in taxpayer funds through the congressionally authorized Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in 2021,” Gaetz said in the letter. 

Gaetz asked the following questions in the letter:

  • How much taxpayer money has WEAA 88.9 been allocated by CPB in 2022 and 2023?
  • What vetting processes do CPB and NPR use to ensure taxpayer funds are not being allocated to organizations that platform extremist content?
  • What vetting processes do CPB and NPR use to ensure taxpayer funds are not being allocated to organizations that platform pseudo-historical and historically revisionist content?
  • What other hate groups do CPB and/or NPR fund with taxpayer dollars?

Morgan State University owns the radio station. This is a public university that was awarded $46 million in federal grants and contracts in 2022.

Farrakhan is one of the more controversial figures in American politics. He is notorious for making vitriolic anti-white statements, which he should be condemned for.

That said, Farrakhan does raise interesting questions about Jewish/Zionist influence in American politics. Nevertheless, NPR should not be funded with taxpayer dollars. Its private listeners and other sponsors should be the ones that are patronizing his platform.

Taxpayer dollars should never go to radio stations that could otherwise be supported via taxpayer dollars. 

 

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