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Newsmax, Direct TV and the First Amendment

GOP Support for 1A Should Be Unconditional I love Newsmax. It gives a voice to conservatives not available anywhere else. I have been a guest on Newsmax several times and honored to have some articles […]

GOP Support for 1A Should Be Unconditional

I love Newsmax. It gives a voice to conservatives not available anywhere else. I have been a guest on Newsmax several times and honored to have some articles published on their website as an insider. With that said, it is time Republican leaders stop screaming at Direct TV for removing the Newsmax channel. Direct TV is not a large monopoly like Google or Meta.  Americans can watch Newsmax on 13 streaming services and on 11 other satellite and cable systems or simply by downloading the Newsmax app.

Private enterprise is allowed and protected by our First Amendment rights.  AT & T/ Direct TV is not a monopoly.  Do we go after Foxnews, Newsmax and AON when they don’t provide the radical left with an equal amount of airtime?  If you want to find leftist lies you can go to MSNBC or CNN.  If you want to watch Newsmax you have plenty of options.  Direct TV is making a bad business decision – and everyone who is conservative should cancel their subscription. But as a private enterprise Direct TV has the right  to cancel Newsmax. That is what the First Amendment is about – even when we don’t like what it is protecting.

It is not often that I so strongly disagree with my fellow republicans but really, do we have to pick this fight to show how conservative we are? Let’s pass legislation. Let’s get to the bottom of the J6 commission and their attacks on the First Amendment. Let’s send all the J6 videos to every media outlet in the country. Let’s audit where the Biden Administration’s gifts to Ukraine are really going.

I want my party leaders and elected officials to focus on the true cancel culture of the radical left’s teaching of CRT and the indoctrination of our children.  Let’s focus on the avalanche of liberals pushing our children into thinking it’s OK to mutilate their bodies before they even reach an age of understanding. Those are the things that are important to the American people and what we should be focused on.

Newsmax will survive without Direct TV and it will survive by giving voice to conservative Americans and our elected conservative Republican leaders, better than anyone else. That is capitalism and how it is supposed to work.

Our First Amendment is under attack. The Biden Justice Department turns a blind eye to attacks on Pregnancy Resource Centers, Anti-Semitic attacks and the freedom of religion.  I’m hoping our Republican leaders stay focused on the hateful attacks this administration is leveling at our basic First Amendment rights. Newsmax is a private business. Our elected officials have no business putting pressure on another private business to make better business decisions. Our support for the First Amendment has to be unconditional. There is no other way.

Jay Shepard

Jay Shepard

Jay was elected as the National Committeeman to the Republican National Committee for Vermont in both 2012 and 2016. He currently serves as RNC Vice Chair serving on the Executive Committee as well as the Rules Committee. Jay and his wife are owners of Junction Consulting LLC; a marketing and advertising firm specializing in creating, producing and delivering corporate and political media and messaging. He is also a partner in a Behavioral Science Research Firm.