Dear MoveOn member,
Just a few weeks ago, MoveOn launched a campaign calling on AT&T to shut down One America News (OAN), the rabidly pro-Trump, white supremacist hate channel founded and bankrolled by AT&T and carried on its DIRECTV network.1
And now, we've just learned that one of OAN's news anchors was actively involved in the planning for the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and was in Trump's war room in the lead-up to the insurrection.2
OAN is in trouble—which is just the opening we need to put an end to the white supremacist hate channel.
AT&T-owned DIRECTV is the sole national cable provider offering OAN, and even OAN has admitted it would "go out of business tomorrow" if it were taken off DIRECTV.3
We've already launched a viral video calling out AT&T that's gotten nearly 1 million views. Now we're ramping up the pressure with an ad to air during the November 7 Dallas Cowboys game at AT&T Stadium. Will you chip in to air the ad and keep the campaign to shut down AT&T's white supremacist channel going for as long as it takes?
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
Express Donate: $5 monthly
Express Donate: $15 monthly
Express Donate: $50 monthly
OAN is so panicked about being held accountable that its hosts have started using airtime to ask viewers to call AT&T corporate headquarters in an effort to keep OAN on the air and counter the wave of angry consumer calls and actions from MoveOn members and other AT&T customers who are outraged by the company's behavior.
OAN is even more toxic than Fox News. Its audience is built on lies about COVID-19, the January 6 insurrection, attacking transgender kids, and spreading lies about the 2020 election.
It should be shut down—and we have a plan to do it.
The key to our strategy is that AT&T is a highly public consumer brand that spends lavishly on advertising to promote a welcoming image to people of all backgrounds. On its website, AT&T claims to "stand for equality" and support "advancing economic opportunity, overcoming systemic barriers, and ensuring civil rights for all people."4
At the same time, AT&T is supporting a TV channel that claims that transgender people have a "mental illness," compares the Biden administration's support for vaccines to Nazi Germany, and employs hosts with close ties to the white supremacist movement.5,6,7 OAN even held an on-air fundraiser to support Donald Trump's efforts to push the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen.8
The latest shocking report is that OAN reporter Christina Bobb was involved in the January 6 insurrection and huddled with Trump's team as the insurrection was happening to strategize on how to overturn the election.9
The good news is that AT&T and OAN are really feeling the pressure. AT&T's support for OAN has generated widespread media coverage. AT&T issued a defensive press response, and OAN's on-air team is begging viewers to "thank” AT&T for not dropping the channel yet.
If we can raise enough money, we'll be able to run a hard-hitting ad during the next big Dallas Cowboys home game, right in the hometown of AT&T's headquarters, on November 7. Will you chip in monthly to get the ad up and keep up the pressure on AT&T for as long as it takes to hold the company accountable?
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
Express Donate: $5 monthly
Express Donate: $15 monthly
Express Donate: $50 monthly
Thanks for all you do.
–David, Isbah, Bekir, Melissa, and the rest of the team
Thanks for all you do
Sources:
1. "How AT&T helped build far-right One America News,” Reuters, October 6, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159245?t=12&akid=309729%2E40999114%2ELpKTwV
2. "Ahead of Jan. 6, Willard hotel in downtown D.C. was a Trump team 'command center' for effort to deny Biden the presidency," The Washington Post, October 23, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159434?t=14&akid=309729%2E40999114%2ELpKTwV
3. "How AT&T helped build far-right One America News," Reuters, October 6, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159245?t=16&akid=309729%2E40999114%2ELpKTwV
4. "We Stand for Equality," AT&T, accessed November 1, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159313?t=18&akid=309729%2E40999114%2ELpKTwV
5. "OAN host compares Biden administration's vaccine push to Nazi Germany," Media Matters for America, October 8, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159306?t=20&akid=309729%2E40999114%2ELpKTwV
6. "SPLC Investigation: Far-right OANN anchor Jack Posobiec's rise to white supremacist movement," Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed November 1, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159320?t=22&akid=309729%2E40999114%2ELpKTwV
7. "OAN is a cesspool of anti-LGBTQ hate. It's supported by these cable providers and streaming services." Media Matters for America. October 15, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159318?t=24&akid=309729%2E40999114%2ELpKTwV
8. "Pro-Trump OAN Reporters Are Blatantly Raising Money For A Bogus Election 'Audit' In Arizona," BuzzFeed News, May 18, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159316?t=26&akid=309729%2E40999114%2ELpKTwV
9. "How AT&T helped build far-right One America News,” Reuters, October 6, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159245?t=28&akid=309729%2E40999114%2ELpKTwV
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