Oklahoma’s GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt is defending his move to defund the state’s Public Broadcasting System (PBS) over its biased, left-wing agenda, and in particular, is wondering why the state should be “using taxpayer dollars to overly sexualize or indoctrinate children.”
Stitt made his comments in an appearance on Fox Business Network on Monday’s broadcast of Varney & Co. to defend his decision to stop allowing state pension funds to invest in businesses that engage in fossil fuels boycotts.
But Stitt was also asked about his move to defund PBS, spurring him to note that PBS does not “line up with Oklahoma values.”
Last week, Stitt vetoed a bill that would have renewed funding for Oklahoma’s statewide PBS station because, in his view, PBS indoctrinates kids with radical gay and transgender agendas.
Last Wednesday, Stitt vetoed funding for the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), the state’s public broadcasting service which broadcasts PBS programming.
“I don’t think Oklahomans want to use their tax dollars to indoctrinate kids. And some of the stuff that they’re showing, it just overly sexualizes our kids,” he said after signing his veto, Fox News reported.
On Varney & Co., he went into more detail about that veto.
“The big picture here,” Stitt said, “is why are we using taxpayer dollars to fund a public television station? It’s an outdated system; 14 other states don’t fund public television. If the programming wants to go on NBC, or CBS, or Fox, they’ll pick that up.
“But… I’m going to protect the tax dollars,” Stitt continued. “So, that’s first and foremost.”
"Why are we using taxpayer dollars to overly sexualize or indoctrinate children?" — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on vetoing funding for PBS pic.twitter.com/iKOrxfVkq1
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 8, 2023
“Secondly, some of the programming doesn’t line up with Oklahoma values. And why are we using taxpayer dollars to overly sexualize or indoctrinate children with this type of programming?” he asked.
“I’m not going to do it as long as I’m governor, and I think Oklahomans overwhelmingly support me on that,” he added.
During the interview, Stitt also said that he has gotten pushback on the veto from the left but feels that most of his voters support him and noted that he would prefer to spend the money on the state’s education system, not some antiquated TV broadcasting system.
“Let’s educate kids, let’s not indoctrinate them, let’s spend those dollars in education, not propping up some television station,” he explained, citing all the forms of entertainment available today—from the Internet, to broadcast TV, to cable—concluding, “We don’t need to fund a public television station in 2023.”
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