Prominent GOP figures and congressional Republicans slam DirecTV for deplatforming Newsmax

Former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and congressional Republicans slammed DirecTV this week for deplatforming Newsmax last week.

Prominent Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), incoming Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Lindsey Graham (R-SC), incoming Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mike Lee (R-UT), and Tom Cotton (R-AR) sent a letter to DirecTV, AT&T and shareholder TPG asking for more information about the decision.

One America News Network was also deplatformed last year.

AT&T said it made the decision for "cost-cutting" reasons.

The senators noted that DirecTV pays licensing fees to left-leaning news networks with much smaller audiences than Newsmax, which seems to suggest discrimination and a political agenda.

In the House, 18 members led by Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) said, “This is a clear case of free speech infringement and viewpoint discrimination. Government colluding with telecommunications giants should chill us all."