Trump urges Republicans to defund NPR, PBS

President Trump on Thursday renewed a call to defund NPR and PBS a day after top executives from the public broadcasters faced an intense grilling from GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

"NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms (Networks!), should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY," Trump wrote late Wednesday on Truth Social. "Republicans, don’t miss this opportunity to rid our Country of this giant SCAM, both being arms of the Radical Left Democrat Party. JUST SAY NO AND, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"

Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform's Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee peppered NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS President Paula Kerger on Wednesday with accusations of bias against conservatives and questions about their funding.

NPR took in just over $11 million in federal funding last year, money Maher said is crucial to bringing public broadcasting to local communities, particularly in rural swaths of the country.

But the GOP line of attack, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), focused on the outlets' "woke" editorial bend and suggestions that they have been outpaced by technological advancements in the media business.

Several lawmakers knocked NPR specifically over its reporting on the origins of the COVID-19 virus and scandal around the laptop of former President Biden's son, Hunter Biden — stories its chief executive on Wednesday acknowledged the outlet mishandled.

"Every single day, private businesses operate without government funding," Greene told the heads of the public broadcasters. "You all can hate us on your own dime.”

A new Pew Research Center study out this week found a plurality of Americans say the federal government should continue to fund public broadcasters. The same survey found 32 percent of Democrats regularly get news from NPR, compared with 9 percent of Republicans.