PBS sued the Trump administration on Friday, arguing that Trump’s move to cut off funding violates the First Amendment.
The lawsuit also argues that Trump has violated the statutory framework that established the service in 1969, and which was designed to keep its editorial content free from political interference. In an executive order on May 1, Trump called PBS “corrosive” and said that its news broadcast is “biased and partisan.”
“PBS disputes those charged assertions in the strongest possible terms,” the lawsuit states. “But regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS’s programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.”
PBS joins NPR, which filed a similar lawsuit seeking to block the executive order on Tuesday. The order directed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cut off funding to both entities to “the maximum extent allowed by law.”
The CPB gives out government funding to local TV and radio stations, which in turn pays licensing fees to carry PBS and NPR programming. The CPB pushed back on Trump’s order, saying that Congress established it as an independent agency outside of presidential control.
Trump has also sought to fire three CPB board members — Tom Rothman, Diane Kaplan and Laura Ross — who have sued him to try to block their firing.
In the latest case, PBS is joined by Northern Minnesota Public Television, based in Bemidji, Minn. The suit recounts numerous comments made by Trump and the White House attacking PBS’ content, to underscore the point that the defunding is motivated by disagreement over speech.
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In a Truth Social post on April 1, Trump demanded that Republicans defund PBS and NPR, “THE RADICAL LEFT ‘MONSTERS’ THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR COUNTRY!”
Among the grievances cited by the White House was a 2017 panel discussion about “white privilege” and “what it means to be woke,” a 2020 Sesame Street town hall aimed at addressing racism amid the Black Lives Matter protests, and a 2021 children’s program featuring a drag queen.
“PBS disputes those examples and assertions as inaccurate — and misrepresentative of the variety of PBS programming,” the lawsuit states.
The suit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeks an injunction to block the order from taking effect.
From Variety US