Politics

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Matt Gaetz Calls For Defunding Radio After NPR Affiliate Airs Louis Farrakhan Speeches

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Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz called to end federal funding for radio until a National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate stops playing Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan speeches during a weekly show.

Final Call Radio, which airs every Sunday night on NPR affiliate WEAA 88.9, labels itself as “The Official Voice of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan” and plays his speeches where he makes antisemitic comments. WEAA received over $250,000 in funding in 2021, which is the latest year they uploaded, from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CBP) which is entirely funded by Congress.

The radio station airs in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore area.

Farrakhan has a history of “railing against Jews, white people and the LGBT community,” according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). (RELATED: Booker Won’t Rule Out Meeting With Black Nationalist Hate Group Leader Louis Farrakhan)

“Farrakhan has embarked on a wide-ranging campaign specifically targeting the Jewish community, a campaign that has featured some of the most hateful speeches of his tenure as head of NOI,” the ADL’s website reads. “Farrakhan has alleged that the Jewish people were responsible for the slave trade and that they conspire to control the government, the media and Hollywood, as well as various black individuals and organizations. He frequently denies the legitimacy of Judaism – or Jewish claim to the land of Israel — arguing that Judaism is nothing more than a ‘deceptive lie’ and a ‘theological error’ promoted by Jews to further their ‘control’ over America’s government and economy.”

LISTEN:

“How did the Jewish people own most of the basketball players? Have you ever considered how did they become so rich, so powerful, so influential? The Synagogue of Satan calls me a hater, anti-semitic, homophobic, anti-white, anti-American. They keep you from a man that has truth in his mouth that will set you free,” Farrakhan said in a speech that aired on the NPR affiliate.

 

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“Joe Biden says white supremacy is the nation’s greatest threat, but his administration is busy subsidizing the broadcast of Nation of Islam propaganda. Taxpayers should not be supporting Louis Farrakhan’s hateful rhetoric. I’m calling to halt any and all taxpayer funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting until WEAA stops airing Final Call Radio,” Gaetz told the Caller.

The radio station is owned by Morgan State University — a public university that received $46 million in federal grants and contracts in 2022. (RELATED: Hakeem Jeffries Defended Uncle’s Antisemitic Tirade In College Editorial)

The Caller contacted both WEAA and the CBP about Final Call Radio to which they did not immediately respond.