Congressional Republicans held a hearing on Wednesday to direct their ire at a familiar target: public broadcasting. Led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, the Delivering on Government Efficiency Committee questioned the heads of NPR and PBS, lobbing complaints of purported political bias and using “taxpayer funds to push some of the most radical left positions.”
A day later, President Donald Trump chimed in with a post on his Truth Social platform, writing, “NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms (Networks!), should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY. Republicans, don’t miss this opportunity to rid our Country of this giant SCAM, both being arms of the Radical Left Democrat Party. JUST SAY NO AND, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Attacking NPR and PBS, home to “Sesame Street,” is not new ground for the right. It’s not even MAGA-specific. In fact, the war on public broadcasting goes back decades and has been passed down from Republican to Republican.
PBS and NPR are funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a nonprofit funded by taxpayers. Programming on the networks is also funded by underwriters, which are sometimes private corporations but also individuals, other nonprofits, or trusts.
Back in the 1970s, President Richard Nixon opposed funding PBS and even vetoed congressional legislation that included money to keep the network going. Coincidentally, PBS led the way in airing uninterrupted coverage of the Watergate hearings, which would eventually lead to him resigning from the presidency. At the time, viewers of the commercial networks complained that hearing coverage interrupted regular programming, while networks like C-SPAN did not yet exist. PBS was a noncommercial venue for educating the public about the most serious issue of the moment.
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan tried to cut public broadcasting funding even though the Democratic-led Congress had voted for money to be appropriated for that cause. Both George W. Bush and Trump (in his first term) attempted to defund the broadcasters as well.
During the 2012 presidential election, Republican nominee Mitt Romney joined the crusade against public media, only to be mocked in an ad from then-President Barack Obama. The ad noted that despite the crimes of Wall Street during the Great Recession, Romney had singled out Big Bird—complaining that taxpayers were funding “Sesame Street.”
Romney lost, and Big Bird remains.
But why are Republicans so focused on attacking PBS and NPR, to the point that the ire transcends the ideological differences within the Republican Party over decades?
A big part of the reason is trust. Public media in the United States has been a resounding success. Both on the radio and on television (and now online), PBS and NPR provide content trusted by a wide swath of Americans, and both services have a very good track record of providing information without corporate or political influence.
For over 22 years of polling, PBS has been ranked as the most trusted institution in the United States. A January poll from YouGov found that PBS was more highly regarded than courts of law, commercial television and print publications, and above even the federal government and Congress.
Similarly, according to Harris Interactive in late 2024, NPR was ranked as the most trustworthy news media brand in America.
PBS Kids, which is the programming bloc where “Sesame Street” resides, is trusted by the vast majority of parents (88%), according to a YouGov poll. And 90% of parents agreed that PBS Kids helps to prepare children for educational success. Parents also ranked it as far and away the most educational media brand.
“Sesame Street” has long tackled important topics like racism, making it clear to children that this kind of bigotry is “wrong and unfair.”
In short, public broadcasting represents the opposite of many conservative beliefs. The networks support accessible information, prioritize education, and strive to produce content opposing bigotry.
Conservatives see more utility in divisive, bigoted figures—like Greene and Trump—than in Big Bird, who promotes kindness and friendship.
That’s why the networks are under attack from one Republican leader to the next.
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But the right’s leadership is out of touch with America on this topic. A March poll from the Pew Research Center revealed that more Americans support continued funding for PBS and NPR (43%) than want to eliminate its federal funding (24%).
A February poll from YouGov showed that even Trump voters value the network, with 65% saying the PBS is underfunded or adequately funded, and 72% saying they value PBS’ educational content.
Americans, as they have since the character first emerged, are firmly in Big Bird’s corner. Republicans have yet to learn how to get to Sesame Street.
