Trump calls for DirectTV boycott if it removes OAN

Former President Trump is urging his followers to boycott DirecTV over the company’s plans to drop One American News Network (OAN), a conservative cable channel favored by the former commander in chief. 

“If AT&T/DirecTV cancels OAN, I hope that everyone will boycott and cancel DirecTV,” Trump said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “It is a very popular channel, far more popular than most would understand, and they are being treated horribly by the Radical Left lunatics running the networks.

Instead of being allowed to grow, Trump said, OAN’s “voice is being shuttered.”

“Don’t let it happen, cancel DirecTV,” the former president said. “If you feel infringed by what this Communist movement is doing, cancel DirecTV!” 

Last month, DirecTV, which is owned by AT&T Inc. and TPG Inc., notified Herring Networks Inc., which owns and operates OAN, that it would not renew its contract to broadcast the network. OAN’s current contract with DirecTV is reportedly set to expire in April. 

DirecTV is OAN’s largest distributor, with the vast majority of its revenues reportedly coming from its current deal. Other cable providers like Verizon Fios and smaller carries have kept OAN, and it is available to stream online through KloudTV.

OAN, which holds an audience that is not large enough to be tracked by Nielsen Media Researchers, is one of several conservative networks that have been sued in recent months by voting systems companies and others for allegedly broadcasting false or defamatory information about the 2020 presidential election.

Leading conservatives have ripped the AT&T Inc. and TPG Inc. decision to pull OAN off its air. 

“Why give money to people who hate us?” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said in a social media post announcing he would cancel his subscription to DirecTV.

Other elected Republicans have cited DirecTV’s decision as evidence of what they say is corporate America and Big Tech’s efforts to suppress the thoughts of Trump supporters and conservatives writ large.