‘Anti-American Airwaves’: GOP Lawmakers Grill NPR:PBS Execs Over ‘Institutional Bias’

Republican lawmakers grilled PBS and NPR executives on Wednesday in a fiery congressional hearing, where NPR’s chief executive admitted the organization made mistakes in its coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story and faced accusations of institutional liberal bias.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who organized the hearing titled “Anti-American Airwaves,” slammed PBS and NPR as “radical left-wing echo chambers” that publish biased news reports with government subsidies and LGBTQ programming intent on “grooming children,” The New York Times reported.

NPR chief executive Katherine Maher and PBS chief executive Paula Kerger were brought in for questioning by Greene as the chairwoman of the new Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.

Katherine Maher, who became CEO of NPR last year, backtracked on her organization’s coverup of the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 campaign prior to her tenure.

“Our current editorial leadership thinks that was a mistake, as do I,” Maher testified, facing tough questioning from Republican lawmakers.

The old tweets are coming out to haunt the NPR CEO: "Why did you call President Trump a 'fascist' and a 'deranged racist sociopath' in 2020?" pic.twitter.com/ggcpPCSvzi

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 26, 2025

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) revealed 2020 tweets from Maher describing President Trump as a “racist” and “sociopath,” which Maher says she now regrets.

When pressed on the tweets by Rep. Greene, Maher expressed regret, saying, “They represented a time where I was reflecting on something that the president had said rather than who he is.”

These admissions came as Rep. James Comer (R-KY) stated, “I don’t even recognize NPR anymore,” adding that while he relied on public radio for news growing up in rural Kentucky, he now likens it to “propaganda.”

Former NPR senior business editor Uri Berliner, who resigned after publishing an essay critical of the network’s leftward shift, was referenced by Republican lawmakers as further evidence of the outlet’s bias.

In a text message to The New York Times, he wrote that he believes the organization should “openly acknowledge and embrace its progressive orientation” and decline federal support, contradicting Maher’s claims of NPR’s supposed objectivity.

PBS CEO Paula Kerger defended her network, arguing that “there’s nothing more American than PBS” and describing it as a crucial source of accurate information and educational programming for millions of Americans.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a government-funded company, received $535 million from the government this year, with millions of dollars going directly to NPR and PBS.

Representative William Timmons (R-SC) pressed PBS’s Kerger about a digital segment titled “Drag Queen Story Hour,” which featured drag performers reading to children. Kerger responded that the segment never aired on PBS television and was removed after being “mistakenly added” to the network’s website.

Representative Greene pointed to a photograph of drag performer Lil Miss Hot Mess featured in PBS programming, calling the entertainer a “monster” and accusing the network of using “taxpayer funds to push some of the most radical left positions.”

Kerger rejected these characterizations and defended PBS programming as educational and appropriate for its audiences.