'Never Trumper' PAC Takes On Comcast Over Ad Critical Of Fox News
Spot exhorts viewers to ask TV providers to drop Fox News
The Lincoln Project, a political action committee made up of current and former Republicans looking to blunt the influence of Donald Trump and those who support him, is calling out Comcast over the cable TV provider's decision not to run one of the Lincoln Project's political advertisements.
Particularly at issue is a new ad that criticizes Fox News for airing misinformation — and disinformation — related to the available vaccines against the novel coronavirus. That dissemination of misinformation has contributed to many Americans choosing not to get vaccinated.
The Biden administration — and its allies — have stepped up its efforts to combat vaccine misinformation over the last week or so.
Thus comes the TV spot — titled “Fox Is Killing Us” — from the Lincoln Project, which was originally formed last year to defeat Trump for a second term.
The ad encourages viewers to contact their TV provider to drop Fox News from its channel lineup.
In all, the ad consists of a narrator saying: “The Americans who are dying from COVID are almost all not vaccinated. Rupert Murdoch was vaccinated. Does anyone really think Tucker Carlson isn’t vaccinated? But Murdoch’s Fox News continues to put Americans at risk by pushing anti-vax hysteria. It’s dangerous, immoral. Fox News is helping kill Americans. Call your local television provider and tell them to drop Fox News. It’s not about politics. It’s about life and death.”
However, Comcast — the largest cable TV company in the United States — has refused to air the spot.
Lincoln Project officials said that they were informed by Comcast that the company would refuse to run the commercial because it did not meet its guidelines:
An advertisement may be rejected if it is merely an attack of a personal nature, a direct attack on an individual business or comment on a private dispute. Advertisements may be accepted if the attack is on a business that is in the public forum or the issue is one of public concern.
“Our criticism of Fox News falls under Comcast’s description of a business that is in the public forum or the issue is one of public concern,” the Lincoln Project said in a statement. “Comcast is one of the main sources of Fox News’ revenue and our ad called on Americans to ask their cable carriers to drop the propaganda network. As Rupert Murdoch’s anti-vaccine messaging machine continues to spread deadly misinformation that is killing Americans, we will not stop calling out the danger Fox News poses to public health.
“This is not the first Lincoln Project ad Comcast has blocked from its air. Comcast has repeatedly rejected Lincoln Project ads that seek to hold powerful corporations accountable — be they news networks like Fox or major automobile manufacturers like Toyota,” the Lincoln Project statement added. “Comcast has made one thing clear: Their bottom line comes before anything else; it comes before democracy; and in this case, it comes before the health and safety of the American people.”
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