The Biden nominee to the Federal Communications Commission thinks all Republicans are racists and white supremacists.
At least that’s what her message history on Twitter shows. Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan made sure that was on the record on Feb. 9, during a confirmation hearing.
Gigi Sohn is also on the record saying that Fox News has the “most negative impact on our democracy.” She called it “state-sponsored propaganda with few if any opposing viewpoints,” meaning that Fox News was sponsored by a foreign government.
But at contentious hearings over recent months on her nomination, Sohn insisted she is completely unbiased: “”I am fair and unbiased and they know my door will be open and I will always listen. Absolutely I believe that I can be impartial … My opinions as a public interest advocate will have no bearing on how I behave as a policymaker, if I’m confirmed … I said some things maybe too sharp, but they will have absolutely no determination on how I would rule in a proceeding with any of those companies.”
Sohn’s well- documented politics is coming back to bite her. She formerly headed up the special interest group Public Knowledge, which advocates for government control over digital platforms, such as Facebook.
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan questioned Sohn about her clear history of bias.
“I don’t know where to begin,” Sullivan said, practically in disbelief of her record. He said he is “very disturbed” by Sohn’s social media commentary. “We’re not nominating you for any normal assistant secretary. You’re going to be an FCC commissioner. Enormous power, particularly as it relates to free speech, particularly as it actually relates to liberty in our country. And I think Sen. Scott raises some really important points, which is I don’t see how you can be unbiased.”
Then he continued, “‘Fox News is state-sponsored propaganda” he read aloud from Sohn’s Twitter account, putting a question mark in his voice. “Republicans know the only way they can win an election is to suppress the vote?” he continued. “Your raggedy white president would…” he said. “Wow, that’s way out there right? You think most Republicans are racists and white supremacists?”
Sohn said of course she doesn’t think that at all, and she has sent over 10,000 Twitter messages, and simply cannot remember every single one of them.
In a letter to President Biden, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and a long list of other freedom-focused groups called for the president to withdraw her nomination.
“As the decisive vote on controversial matters at the agency, Sohn would have the power and incentive to push the FCC towards government control of communications. Further, the Biden Administration has shown a willingness to mislead Senators when it comes to agency leadership, as demonstrated by the bait-and-switch the White House pulled with the Federal Trade Commission, when Chair Khan was elevated after being confirmed under false pretenses. The potential for Sohn to become chair of the FCC makes her nomination all the more concerning,” the letter said.
“Throughout her career, Sohn has favored policies that undermine intellectual property rights protections. She spearheaded an FCC proceeding that would have enabled tech platforms to effectively steal and monetize television content without paying for usage rights. Sohn also served on the board of Locast, a “non-profit” that was determined to be illegally retransmitting broadcasters’ content without their consent in violation of the Copyright Act. The case resulted in a permanent injunction that required Locast to pay $32 million in statutory damages. Sohn cannot be an impartial regulator of the broadcast industry after joining the Board of an organization that openly violated that industry’s copyrights,” the groups said.
