"Paramount's decision will only embolden Trump to
continue attacking, suing, and intimidating the media, which he has labeled
'the enemy of the people,'" Sanders said following news that
Paramount agreed to pay US$16 million to settle Trump's suit over the
media organization's handling of a "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala
Harris ahead of the 2024 election.
"It
is a dark day for independent journalism and freedom of the press—an essential
part of our democracy. It is a victory for a president who is attempting to
stifle dissent and undermine American democracy," Sanders continued.
"Make no mistake about it. Trump is undermining our democracy and rapidly
moving us towards authoritarianism, and the billionaires who care more about
their stock portfolios than our democracy are helping him do it."
The senator accused Paramount of caving to Trump to help
grease the federal approval process for the company's pending merger with
Skydance. As part of the deal, Paramount chair Shari Redstone agreed to
sell her family's company, National Amusements—which controls nearly 80% of
Paramount voting stock—for US$2.4 billion.
"In other words," Sanders said Wednesday,
"the Redstone family diminished the freedom of the press today in exchange
for a US$2.4 billion payday."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined Sanders in condemning the
settlement and called for a "full investigation into whether or not any
anti-bribery laws were broken."
"The Trump administration's level of sheer corruption
is appalling," said Warren, "and Paramount should be ashamed of
putting its profits over independent journalism."
The Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), a Paramount
shareholder that has threatened to sue the company if it settled the
Trump suit, said Wednesday that the deal "will be remembered as one of the
most shameful capitulations by the press to a president in history."
"Paramount's
spineless decision to settle Trump's baseless and patently unconstitutional
lawsuit is an insult to the journalists of '60 Minutes' and an invitation to
Trump to continue targeting other news outlets," said Seth Stern, FPF's
director of advocacy. "Each time a company cowers and surrenders to
Trump's demands only emboldens him to do it again."
"But we are not done fighting," Stern said.
"We've already filed a shareholder information demand and are
sending a second demand today to uncover information about this decision. With
that information, we will continue to pursue our legal options to stop this
affront to Paramount shareholders, CBS journalists, and the First
Amendment. Paramount directors should be held accountable, and we will do all
we can to make that happen."
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