NAACP President Derrick Johnson will meet with executives at AT&T Thursday to encourage the company to end its relationship with conservative cable network One America News.
The meeting will take place at the AT&T offices in Washington DC. The NAACP has not disclosed who to meet with.
“AT&T directly supports efforts that undermine our democracy and suppress our right to vote. It’s reprehensible, “Johnson said in a statement announcing the meeting.
In a brief statement to the Dallas Morning News, AT&T said, “We look forward to meeting the NAACP to hear their concerns.”
The NAACP president’s comments come after Reuters released a two-part investigation by OAN. It cited court testimonies and records that suggested the network would not exist without the support of AT&T. AT&T claims that its financial dealings with OAN resulted from a settlement in a lawsuit filed by the network.
Johnson previously said the civil rights group “got sick” from the revelations about AT&T and OAN. The Dallas-based company has come under increasing fire over the past year for its political donations to Texas Republicans who supported restrictive abortion and electoral laws.
The financial deal with OAN is the newest focal point. According to Reuters, AT&T has agreed to pay the network in the tens of millions over a five-year period to make it available to DirecTV’s customers.
AT&T has said that it “has never had a financial interest in OAN’s success and does not ‘fund’ OAN”. It also states that a decision to extend an OAN transportation contract will now be made by a newly outsourced business jointly managed by AT&T and TPG Capital. AT&T retained a 70 percent stake in the spin-off.
OAN, Robert Herring Sr.’s cable network, has received frequent praise from President Trump for its positive coverage of his presidency. It has also been accused of spreading conspiracy theories, exposing lies about the outcome of the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic that killed more than 720,000 Americans.
[ad_1]
