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DEBUNKED: Psaki Is Just Flat Out Wrong on The Defunding of PBS and NPR
On Wednesday night, MSNBC’s Jen Psaki made biased and flat out false claims in the lead up to the recent passing of HR 4 by the Senate early Thursday morning, during The Briefing. Psaki and her guest, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly (D), tried their best to argue against the cutting of taxpayer funding to PBS and NPR by omitting key details.
Psaki led up to the interview by making egregiously misleading and false claims about the rescission package:
Republicans are using this as a way to codify some of the cuts proposed by DOGE into law. Specifically, cuts to public media and foreign aid. The Republican package would claw back $8.3 billion in foreign aid, which includes subsidies for American farmers who grow food that USAID purchases and gives to starving people all around the world. It would also take away 1.1 billion dollars from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding to NPR and PBS.
These cuts were not just about potentially losing beloved PBS shows like Daniel Tiger and beloved PBS news programming, which is important too. And Daniel Tiger, you can see there, my kids loved it, my next guest’s grandchild also loved it. It’s also about access to emergency broadcast alerts and public safety announcements, and a lot of communities depend on it for that. And given the recent flash flooding events that have killed over 100 people across multiple states, and now devastating wildfires occurring in places like Arizona, these emergency systems are proving to be especially vital.
Psaki pointed to the fact that $8.3 billion will be cut from USAID. What she neglected to mention was the fact that a majority of that funding was going to things like tourism in Egypt and sex changes and LGBT activism in Guatemala.
She then tried to pull on viewers' heart strings by claiming that kids’ shows like Daniel Tiger were going to disappear upon the defunding of PBS. In fact, PBS didn’t have the exclusive rights to Daniel Tiger, it could also be watched on Amazon Prime.
Psaki then tried to tie in the recent flooding in Texas to the necessity of PBS and NPR emergency systems, alluding that defunding it would lead to more deaths. In fact, a recent MRC investigation showed that it took NPR 19 HOURS after the National Weather Service posted its first alert to post anything about the flooding.
In her interview with Senator Kelly (D), Psaki asked him about the impact the rescissions package could have on rural areas in Arizona:
PSAKI: I know Arizona is one of the states that really relies on. This funding that could also impact that. Tell me about your concern there and what you worry about for rural communities in that regard.
MARK KELLY: People's lives and livelihoods have been ruined because of this fire, but some people's lives were perhaps saved because they were notified due to emergency alert systems.
That for some folks in very rural areas, places like around the Grand Canyon or the Navajo Nation in Arizona, which, by the way, is as big as West Virginia, for some of these individuals, this is their only source of information. This is their only source of local news, but more importantly, when something bad is going to happen, like a flash flood or tornadoes or a wildfire, this is how these people are notified. This is how they protect their families, how they save their own lives, and this administration is stripping that away from them.
Sen. Kelly claimed that rural areas, like tribal lands, rely on PBS and NPR as their only source of information on natural disasters and that the administration was stripping that away from them.
That claim was categorically false, the OMB has assured that the Department of the Interior had agreed to implement these emergency services directly to the tribes.
The MRC had also published the top ten myths on the defunding of PBS and NPR, which can be read here.
The full transcript is below. Click "expand" to view:
MSNBC’s The Briefing With Jen Psaki
9:44:49 PM ET
July 16th, 2025
JEN PSAKI: The rescissions package is a move by Republicans in Congress to claw back government funds that they had previously voted on and appropriated, and in this case Republicans are using this as a way to codify some of the cuts proposed by DOGE into law. Specifically, cuts to public media and foreign aid. The Republican package would claw back $8.3 billion in foreign aid, which includes subsidies for American farmers who grow food that USAID purchases and gives to starving people all around the world. It would also take away 1.1 billion dollars from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding to NPR and PBS.
These cuts are not just about potentially losing beloved PBS shows like Daniel Tiger and beloved PBS news programming, which is important too. And Daniel Tiger, you can see there, my kids loved it, my next guest’s grandchild also loved it. It’s also about access to emergency broadcast alerts and public safety announcements, and a lot of communities depend on it for that. And given the recent flash flooding events that have killed over 100 people across multiple states, and now devastating wildfires occurring in places like Arizona, these emergency systems are proving to be especially vital.
[INTERVIEW WITH ARIZONA DEMOCRATIC SENATOR MARK KELLY]
(...)
9:48:18 PM
PSAKI: No question about it, and one of the ways this — particularly this rescission package is putting people at risk. And I know you’ve been outspoken about the response to disasters in your state is about any emergency alert systems, which I know Arizona is one of the states that really relies on. This funding that could also impact that. Tell me about your concern there and what you worry about for rural communities in that regard.
MARK KELLY: Well Jen, we’ve got this devastating fire going on in the Grand Canyon. It’s zero percent contained, it’s done a huge amount of damage to historic buildings and infrastructure. We’ve got 500 wildland firefighters working around the clock right now to contain this. People's lives and livelihoods have been ruined because of this fire, but some people's lives were perhaps saved because they were notified due to emergency alert systems.
That for some folks in very rural areas, places like around the Grand Canyon or the Navajo Nation in Arizona, which, by the way, is as big as West Virginia, for some of these individuals, this is their only source of information. This is their only source of local news, but more importantly, when something bad is going to happen, like a flash flood or tornadoes or a wildfire, this is how these people are notified. This is how they protect their families, how they save their own lives, and this administration is stripping that away from them.
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