Lafayette Reporter

Senator John Kennedy delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate in which he opposed federal funding for public media programming, both in Louisiana and nationwide. In his remarks, Kennedy expressed concern over what he perceives as biased content in public media.

Kennedy stated, "Now, look, you don’t have to be a Latin scholar to see that these articles are biased—every single one of them—at the federal level and at the state and local level in Louisiana. And you know what, that’s the right of these state and local television stations. They have the right to say this stuff, but they don’t have the right to say it with your money."

The senator further argued against taxpayer funding for public broadcasting, referencing a $500 million annual subsidy. "These folks have the right to publish that, but they do not have the right to publish it with taxpayer money—$500 million a year," he remarked. Kennedy also expressed the hope that the U.S. Congress would eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through legislative measures.

"That’s not the role of the federal government, and—given these kinds of articles—to do so incites the anger of at least half of our country, and that is not right," Kennedy concluded.