President Donald Trump can add another dubious achievement to his list of long-held conservative goals: killing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. After Trump signed a bill clawing back $1 billion in funding, the nonprofit that supports PBS, NPR and more than 1,500 local public TV and radio stations around the country announced it will shut down by the start of next year.
This will please movement conservatives who have long thought the mainstream news media was biased against them. But it comes at a time when their complaints sound hollow. Conservatives have never had more options to get the news. They can read The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post — plus the upcoming California Post — or The Daily Wire, The Federalist, the Daily Caller and Breitbart News. They can listen to local AM talk radio or tune into conservative voices on satellite radio, podcasts and online streaming. They can tune into Fox News, Newsmax TV and One America News Network. Or they can check out conservative influencers on social media, including TruthSocial and X.
Somehow that is not enough. Under Trump, they have sought to exert influence over mainstream news outlets as well.
This is a preview of Michael Steele's latest column. Read the full column here. For more thought-provoking insights from Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez and Symone Sanders-Townsend, watch "The Weeknight" every Monday-Friday at 7 p.m. ET on MSNBC.
