OAN Owner Publicly Rebukes His Son’s Endorsement of Biden’s Nominee for FCC Commissioner
One America News Network is pulling an about-face after the far-right news network seemed to endorse President Joe Biden’s nominee for chief of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Biden has tapped Gigi Sohn, a lawyer and former senior staffer of the FCC, as his nominee for FCC commissioner. Her nomination has been challenged by conservatives concerned by her past comments about right-wing media outlets, but she received a surprising endorsement last month when OANN President Charles Herring published a letter supporting her.
As an executive of an independent, family-owned business of two national networks, One America News Network and AWE, I’ve found myself advocating for more open markets in an environment that is arguably a quasi-monopoly. I’ve fought in the trenches side-by-side with Gigi Sohn for a number of years on multiple issues. I’m fully aware of Gigi’s personal views, yet I’m even more knowledgeable on her strong belief and advocacy for diversity in the programming lineup, especially in news, regardless of conflicts with her personal views.
Gigi has been very consistent in her views for diversity in media. She has advocated for reasonable policies to support numerous points of view and to open up the markets to independent voices in all aspects of media. She believes in the First Amendment and the advantages of a strong and open media for the benefit of our democracy.
Judging by the framing of his letter, Herring endorsed Sohn because he believes her appointment would lead to a media market expansion that OAN would benefit from. The rest of the network, however, seems to strongly disagree.
The Washington Free Beacon flagged a segment on Tuesday when Herring’s father, OAN owner and founder Robert Herring, joined Pearson Sharp after the network host pronounced Sohn “a Marxist who has absolutely no regard for free speech or the Constitution.” When Sharp asked if OAN supports Sohn’s nomination as a company, Herring made it clear he was on to diminish his son’s letter.
“My son came out and supported her, but the company itself is not supporting him, and at that point, I had to come out and explain there’s no way this company would ever support her, and no way I’ll ever let it happen,” Herring said. “My son’s out there saying that we support the company, but there is no way. She shouldn’t be anywhere near the FCC as far as I’m concerned.”
Watch above, via OAN.
