NPR CEO Katherine Maher said the quiet part out loud, claiming “truth is a distraction” that’s getting in the way of the Democrats’ progressive agenda.
In a resurfaced clip from her 2022 TED Talk delivered when she was the CEO of Wikipedia, Maher claimed, “Our reverence for the truth might have become a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting important things done.”
NPR's CEO Katherine Maher: "Truth is a distraction from getting things done"
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) November 24, 2024
Our tax dollars fund this, @DOGE pic.twitter.com/N60gECG3zO
“That is not to say that the truth doesn’t exist or to say that the truth isn’t important. Clearly the search for the truth has led us to do great things…[but] one reason we have such glorious chronicles to the human experience and all forms of culture is because we acknowledge there are many different truths.”
In April, Maher also lamented to the Atlantic Council that the First Amendment was “a little bit tricky” to circumvent in order to censor “bad information” and “influence peddlers.”
X owner Elon Musk criticized the viral clip, saying, “Your tax dollars should not fund lies.”
Your tax dollars should not fund lies https://t.co/pjJ4TZfYJO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2024
NPR announced earlier this month it would be dropping X over “credibility” concerns after their account was labeled “state-affiliated media.” X later changed the outlet’s label to “government-funded media.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Sunday said President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will look into defunding taxpayer-funded propaganda networks like NPR.
DOGE, which will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, will be tasked with eliminating government waste and overhauling how taxpayer money is responsibly spent.
“We’ll be looking at everything from government-funded media programs, like NPR that spreads nothing but Democrat propaganda, we’ll be going into grant programs that fund things like sex apps in Malaysia, toilets in Africa, all kinds of programs that don’t help the American people,” Greene told Fox News’ “Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo.
BREAKING: @mtgreenee says that DOGE will look into defunding NPR and other waste. pic.twitter.com/MxUJRXJisC
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) November 24, 2024
In an op-ed last week, Musk and Ramaswamy outlined DOGE’s role to cut government waste and thereby reduce government spending and regulations.
“Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but ‘rules and regulations’ promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year,” the opinion article began.
“DOGE will present this list of regulations to President Trump, who can, by executive action, immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission. This would liberate individuals and businesses from illicit regulations never passed by Congress and stimulate the U.S. economy,” the DOGE leaders wrote.
In response to Maher’s remarks, Ramaswamy said, “Seeking truth isn’t the real problem. It’s wasteful federal spending.”
“Taxpayers spend $535MM/year on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (NPR’s parent). Even worse, that *isn’t even authorized* by Congress. Let’s turn off the spigot & see what happens. No one will be harmed,” he wrote on X.
Seeking truth isn’t the real problem. It’s wasteful federal spending. Taxpayers spend $535MM/year on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (NPR’s parent). Even worse, that *isn’t even authorized* by Congress. Let’s turn off the spigot & see what happens. No one will be harmed. https://t.co/0fzpZVfz6M
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 24, 2024
Watch MTG’s full interview: