President Trump has asked Congress to pull all funds from public broadcasting. People who love 'Sesame Street' seem to be uncertain if this is a good plan. Drew Holden, the ultimate keeper of receipts, is here to relieve America of any of that guilt.
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— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
I’m not sure people realize just how egregious some of NPR’s “journalism” has been. Amid the debate about defunding the network, I wanted to walk down memory lane to revisit some of its worst coverage.
There’s a lot. ⤵️
Buckle up!
First, perhaps the most egregious display of activist journalism: their response to the Hunter Biden laptop story of corruption involving a major party candidate on the eve of the election.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
Not only did @NPR not cover it, they bragged about refusing to do so. pic.twitter.com/CxQg06T1To
A little blast back in history. This was actual election interference.
Insofar as @NPR did cover the Hunter Biden scandal, they actively tried to cover it up.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
They applauded Facebook & Twitter strangling the story as part of a push against “misinformation and conspiracy theories.”
The story, of course, turned out to be far from invented. pic.twitter.com/ykhfpdFP0S
In particular, @NPR shamelessly went after @EmmaJoNYC for, of all things, doing real journalism.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
Her doing so offended NPR so badly that they wrote an entire hit piece about her. pic.twitter.com/ZRMqXsvWe5
Americans don't hate NPR enough.
This wasn’t the only hatchet work from @NPR in defense of Biden.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
When questions about Biden’s cognitive functioning started to bubble up in February 2024, NPR leapt Pravda-like to his defense.
The real problem? How such allegations would be “weaponized.” pic.twitter.com/7WUOZMIPIN
They were one of the entities working hard to cover up for Joe Biden. They literally behaved like state media.
Oh, and Biden’s pardoning of his son? No big deal, to hear @NPR tell it.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
Partisan bias is one thing. Actively serving as stenographers of the administration, with your tax dollars, I would say is another. pic.twitter.com/rxjDL1Difv
Remember when Biden promised he wouldn't pardon his son?
Or how about @NPR begging voters to consider how good the economy allegedly was under Biden?
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
Early effort to insulate him — look at the headline! — from electoral attacks. pic.twitter.com/uqg2ogwDWW
Such pro-government animus when a Democrat was in office contrasts sharply with @NPR’s breathless coverage of “Russian collusion.”
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
Despite (I get a kick out of this) claiming they weren’t going to discuss the sensational allegations, they were among the lead proponents. pic.twitter.com/5fIGp39epd
Oh, Republicans are scrutinized non-stop.
Here are just a few examples of @NPR rushing to repeat the baseless narrative that Trump was compromised by Russia.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
Here’s just a couple examples. pic.twitter.com/FYtcheEz1D
But of course this sentiment extended to all things connected to Trump.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
The worst, in my book, remains their dismissal of the COVID lab leak hypothesis.
Not mincing words, @NPR claimed that the idea that Covid originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, had been “debunked.” pic.twitter.com/mnYJZma7JB
The lab leak theory, of course, is wasn’t debunked. It has since become the going theory not just in the U.S. but abroad.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
I would like this @NPR side by side on my tombstone. pic.twitter.com/DwN571jjrC
And @NPR had more bad Covid lab leak coverage, and coverage of the pandemic more broadly.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
Perhaps my favorite is this, where they compared the lab leak theory to (I’m not joking) the “lead-up to [the] Iraq War.” pic.twitter.com/vs8N6FQsuM
They were so wrong about Covid so many times.
The rush to hit Trump has led to some other funny side by sides from @NPR, like this one about Covid’s danger. pic.twitter.com/Y3G6JaEYPi
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
And on some issues, @NPR has really taken on the role of advocacy organization, not media entity. As @MaryMargOlohan flagged earlier, NPR has been at the vanguard of promoting the merits of“gender affirming care.” https://t.co/LTilVz2V4q
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
This alone is reason enough to take all of their funding.
And then of course there are the seemingly endless examples of @NPR using your tax dollars to do “journalism” that, well, I’m not sure many people would pay for.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
Are you concerned about worm emojis? How about policing emoji skin tone?
No? Anyone? pic.twitter.com/rs1xPaPPXW
Are you interested in your tax dollars funding coverage of the symbolic dance protest of Trump’s actions toward the Kennedy Center? pic.twitter.com/b7NgmIzTYj
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
Surely you’re okay with your tax dollars investigating whether the depiction of people with eating disorders is too white? Or camel caps attacks on capitalism? pic.twitter.com/XWTgYL3GjW
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
So, yeah, if everyday Americans look at the coverage @NPR produces and think, no, I don’t want my tax dollars going to this, I think that’s reasonable.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 15, 2025
I can’t help but think that maybe those who are up in arms about the prospect aren’t really interested in journalism at all.
Share it with your friends who are complaining about this move by Trump. It's very convincing.
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