Gaetz Questions NPR/CPB for Playing Hate-Filled Louis Farrakhan Speeches

Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has sent a letter to National Public Radio (NPR) President and CEO John Lansing, as well as Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) President and CEO Patricia de Stacy Harrison, questioning the public funds used to display speeches from Nation of Islam (NOI) leader, Louis Farrakhan.

Farrakhan’s speeches infamously include viewpoints that berate “against Jews, white people and the LGBT community,” according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

According to the Daily Caller, which first obtained Rep. Gaetz’s letter, NPR affiliate WEAA 88.9 (Baltimore) declares itself as “The Official Voice of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.” Additionally, WEAA collected $250,000 from the CPB. The CPB is funded by Congress.

In Rep. Gaetz’s letter, the Florida congressman stated that Americans would be surprised that their tax dollars are funding the platforming of a “black-supremacist, pseudohistorical cult.”

“Americans would be shocked to learn that black supremacy, ethnic extremism, or historical revisionism of any kind, especially of this magnitude, is being funded by their tax dollars. Sadly, if they access WEAA 88.9’s website, they would see that the station received $251,815 in taxpayer funds through the congressionally authorized Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in 2021,” said Gaetz.

He would go on to request answers from the leaders of the respective organizations such as the amount of funds that have been allocated to WEAA by CPB in 2022 and 2023, as well as “What other hate groups do CPB and/or NPR fund with taxpayer dollars?”

WEAA is affiliated with Morgan State University, a historically black college (HBCU).

Moreover, Gaetz has recently pressured the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for answers regarding their lack of transparency surrounding the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug.

According to Rep. Gaetz’s press release, President Joe Biden (D) sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as well as the Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting them to “begin the process of descheduling marijuana as a Schedule I drug.”

Despite this effort from the President, the Biden Administration has not removed the drug from the Schedule I list. Additionally, HHS has not provided a timeline regarding when the descheduling will take place.