CNN’s host of The Lead, Jake Tapper, tried to shame GOP Rep. Brandon Gill on Wednesday for trying to defund PBS and NPR by claiming, “PBS really helps little kids,” citing himself learning how to read by watching Sesame Street as an example. However, Tapper’s days in school were not complete as Gill informed him that the real issue is PBS’s “left-wing propaganda,” whether that be in its newsrooms or on Tapper’s beloved children’s programming.
Towards the end of their interview, Tapper wondered why Gill thinks PBS is such a big deal, “Speaker Johnson has said he would additionally like to cut funding for public broadcasting, PBS, which does receive some support from the federal government. I just -- it's interesting. I just have to say, on a personal level, I learned to read by watching Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and The Electric Company. That's literally how I learned to read as a kid. Why do you not think PBS is important?”
Gill answered the question in two ways. First, he stood up for the basic principle that the government should not be funding media outlets, “One of those that we found, which Republicans and conservatives have talked about for decades, is state-sponsored media in the United States. China and North Korea have state-sponsored media. The United States does not need state-sponsored media. Listen, if Fox News or any other conservative news organization came to me and asked for taxpayer money, I would tell them no.”
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