Trump will ‘break up the new media conglomerate oligopolies,’ camp says

by Rebecca Savransky - 10/23/16 4:16 PM ET

Donald Trump’s campaign on Sunday said the GOP nominee would “break up the new media conglomerate oligopolies” if elected to the White House.

Trump’s senior economic adviser, Peter Navarro, said in a statement that the media conglomerates have “gained enormous control over our information, intrude into our personal lives, and in this election, are attempting to unduly influence America’s political process.”

“The very corporations that have gained from shipping America’s factories and jobs offshore are the very same media conglomerates now pushing [Democratic nominee] Hillary Clinton’s agenda,” Navarro continued.

“She is the official candidate of the multinational ruling elite.”

The statement comes a day after reports that AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner for $85.4 billion. The merger allows AT&T control over major media brands including CNN, HBO and Warner Bros.

Navarro noted in the statement that NBC “and its Clinton megaphone MSNBC” was formerly owned by General Electric.

But now, the network has been bought by Comcast, which he claimed “is specifically targeting the Chinese market — even as Comcast’s anchors and reporters at MSNBC engage in their Never Trump tactics.”

“AT&T, the original and abusive ‘Ma Bell’ telephone monopoly, is now trying to buy Time Warner and thus the wildly anti-Trump CNN,” Navarro said.

“Donald Trump would never approve such a deal because it concentrates too much power in the hands of the too and powerful few.”

Navarro went on to address The New York Times and The Washington Post, frequent targets of the Trump campaign.

He said the Times’s “strings are being pulled by Mexico’s Carlos Slim, a billionaire who benefits from [the North American Free Trade Agreement] and supports Hillary Clinton’s open border policies.”

Amazon controls the Post, Navarro said. He added it “profits from the flow of illegally subsidized foreign products through its distribution channels.”

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos purchased the Post in 2013.

“This oligopolistic realignment of the American media along ideological and corporate lines is destroying an American democracy that depends on a free flow of information and freedom of thought,” Navarro said.

“Donald Trump will drain the swamp of corruption and collusion, standing against this trend and standing for the American people.”

Trump and his campaign frequently rail against the media. The Republican nominee has in recent days been saying the media is working with Clinton’s campaign to rig the election in her favor.

The GOP nominee refused to say during the third presidential debate of 2016 that he would accept the results of the presidential election, though his campaign has since softened to say he’ll accept the result if it is “fair.”

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton