Dear John,

The Senate is voting NEXT WEEK on Donald Trump’s $1.1 billion funding cut for public radio and television — and Trump is starting to panic because it’s clear he may not have the votes.

Just yesterday, Trump threatened to withhold his endorsement from “any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting.” But Trump can only afford to lose three Republican votes, and four have already said they oppose the cuts.

Friends, this vote is life-or-death for public radio and television stations across the country. If these cuts go through, many stations will have no choice but to stop all local news reporting or else simply go off the air entirely.

So we’re sounding the alarm and mobilizing grassroots support to stop these cuts and help save public broadcasting. But this is the moment of truth. Will you make a donation to help alert the public, educate the citizenry, and stop Donald Trump’s plan to defund public media?

Public broadcasting represents less than 0.01% of the federal budget, but local stations in small towns and rural areas rely on federal funding for as much as 50% of their operating budgets.

In remote areas of the country, the local public radio station might be the only station people can get, and Republicans from rural states are pushing back.

So far, Alaska’s two senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Susan Collins of Maine have all said they oppose the cuts, and other Republicans from rural states may be wavering as well.

I simply cannot overstate how destructive these cuts would be. We’re talking about $1.1 billion dollars that was already approved by Congress. That’s a complete defunding of public broadcasting. Local stations have already made major budgeting decisions, counting on this money to come through.

For Trump, this is all about his authoritarian assault on the free press. His aim is to take retribution against anyone who doesn’t fall in line and embrace his lies.

The House has already passed these cuts, but the Senate has only until July 18 to do the same — and if they run out of time, public broadcasting is saved. Inequality Media Civic Action is working to alert the public and keep the pressure on these Republican senators, and we’re counting on your support to keep up the fight.

Will you make a donation to help get out the truth and fight the defunding of public broadcasting?

Thank you,

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action