OK Gov.: Why Fund PBS to ‘Overly Sexualize or Indoctrinate’ Kids?

Monday on Fox Business Network’s Oklahoma’s Varney & Co., GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt defended his move to defund the state’s Public Broadcasting System (PBS) over its biased, left-wing agenda, wondering why the state should be “using taxpayer dollars to overly sexualize or indoctrinate children.”

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.

On Varney & Co., Stitt said, “The big picture here 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 It’s an outdated system; 14 other states don’t fund public television.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. So, that’s first and foremost.”

“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.”

“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.”