National Public Radio (NPR) has for years been one of the cruelest tricks played on the American taxpayer. Although its funding comes from taxpayers of all political persuasions, only leftists are ever heard on its airwaves. A taxpayer-funded media outlet should have room for all the major perspectives of the American political spectrum, but on NPR, it’s all leftism, all the time. Patriots have to fund the dissemination of material that is designed to counter and diminish their own view of the world. President Donald Trump has tried in several different ways to end NPR, but now a couple of ultra-rich leftists have bailed it out. And that in itself indicates whose purposes NPR is serving.
Fox News reported Thursday that NPR has recently gotten a cool $113 million in donations from only two sources, one of whom is “a Democratic megadonor” who ponied up no less than $80 million to make sure that NPR’s America-Last propaganda, delivered up in soft, measured tones with a side order of faux-folksy Americana, would continue to bore and irritate us.
That megadonor is “Obama Foundation board member and major Democratic donor” Connie Ballmer, the wife of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. She directed that the money be devoted to “expanding NPR’s digital capabilities and improving how it reaches audiences across platforms.”
Ballmer explained: “I support NPR because an informed public is the bedrock of our society, and democracy requires strong, independent journalism.” It does indeed; so why is Ballmer giving money to NPR instead? “My hope,” she continued, “is that this commitment provides the stability and the spark NPR needs to innovate boldly and strengthen its national network." Yeah, that’s just what we need.
The other $33 million, meanwhile, came from a donor who wished to remain anonymous (and who wouldn’t, under the circumstances?), and who wanted the dough to “go toward developing and sharing tools and services with public media organizations.”
Newly flush with cash, NPR CEO Katherine Maher declared: "NPR’s mission is unwavering, but our means must evolve.” People aren’t as easy marks as they once were, you see. She continued: "This remarkable investment will enable NPR to continue to deliver the nation’s finest public service journalism, meeting audiences where they are today and will be in the years to come."
All this megadonor funding and strategizing from NPR about how to improve its propaganda comes after congressional Republicans defunded the network last year, “after years of accusations it harbors a liberal bias, a view shared by one of its own top editors, Uri Berliner, who later resigned.” Congress “voted to rescind $1.1 billion in previously approved funding for public media, in a move cheered by President Donald Trump.”
That came after U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in March 2026 blocked Trump’s executive order that ended federal funding of both NPR and PBS. Moss, an Obama appointee, said: "It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch.”
Well, all right, but Moss had nothing to say about how NPR regularly squelches viewpoints to the right of Pol Pot and that it was unjust to pretend that a leftist propaganda organ was a neutral news outlet serving all Americans. And he was certainly aware of NPR’s bias, for he added: "The message is clear: NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the President disapproves of their ‘left-wing’ coverage of the news.”
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White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson commented: "This is a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law. NPR and PBS have no right to receive taxpayer funds, and Congress already voted to defund them. The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue."
That would be good, and while it would have been better if no megadonors had stepped up and NPR died on the vine, it’s good that it is now private funding that is keeping NPR alive. In a free society, Connie Ballmer can do what she wants with her money, even to the extent of spending it on propaganda that, if someday implemented, would end America as a free society. A privately-funded NPR is just another leftist mouthpiece, not a national media outlet. The lessening of the taxpayer burden to provide for it is a victory in itself.
