PBS is not fully funded by the government. But they do receive some of their funding from the government. Our Brad Slager laid out some of the facts about funding in a story he did about PBS last month.

When Twitter labeled PBS and some other media as “government-funded media” in April, some of them threw a snit fit. PBS’s main account quit Twitter over it, despite the fact that their government funding is a demonstrably true fact. They just didn’t like the term that they thought sounded like comparisons to state-owned media in places like Russia. PBS has this in their Twitter bio in their main account.

“PBS’s editorial independence is central to our work and will never change. We produce trustworthy content that features unbiased reporting.”

So you would think that would mean that they would want to go out of their way to be objective. Except they don’t.

What they did on PBS Newshour on Tuesday night during former President Donald Trump’s speech in Bedminster, N.J. was something else.

As I reported, Trump spoke to a cheering crowd and laid out the foundation for his legal defense, outlining his right to have documents under the Presidential Records Act. He also said he had been working with NARA and sorting through the boxes to determine what was personal and what they might want back when he was unfairly targeted. He claimed the targeting was once again “election interference” as we’ve seen with the targeting of him in the past. Indeed, for a non-lawyer, he laid out some good points for his defense, including that the Presidential Records Act isn’t a criminal statute and a president has never been pursued for something like this in the past.

In his defense, Trump cited what he called the “Clinton socks case” where a federal judge looking at the case of Bill Clinton, determined that he had the power to keep recordings of world leaders and their conversations, some of them dealing with very weighty issues. Trump laid out aspects of the Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton classified documents scandals, noting how you had reportedly unjustifiable classified document/s from  Biden’s Senate days in 1974 when he had no Presidential Records Act that he could fall back on, while Hillary Clinton destroyed emails.

Trump’s remarks were generally measured and thoughtful, and in light of everything that he went through during the day with his arraignment, he showed a remarkable strength and an energy that Joe Biden could never demonstrate. Trump had one moment toward the end of the remarks where he spoke about “obliterating the deep state.” At no point did he say anything that even came close to violent or encouraging violence.

Yet PBS ran chyrons during the speech screamed of bias.

Wow. Look at this propaganda from PBS during Trump's speech tonight. pic.twitter.com/7zGwVI11UH

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 14, 2023

Here they appended a chyron that claims “Violent rhetoric has escalated in online forums and far-right militia groups since Trump’s federal indictment.”

Yet they didn’t append any facts to prove it. And even if that were true, what would that have to do with what Trump had to say? They seem to just want to tar Trump with “violence” for daring to defend himself.

They weren’t finished yet, they had another chyron. In case the point they were trying to make to you wasn’t clear, they were spelling it out.

Defund PBS. pic.twitter.com/VKI8LxfjSe

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 14, 2023

“Experts warn that inflammatory rhetoric from elected officials or people in power can prompt individual actors to commit acts of violence.”

Do tell. “Experts.” Where were the chyrons on Joe Biden’s Philly speech where he demonized half the country and said that MAGA people were a threat to the very foundation of the Republic?

PRESIDENT BIDEN:

"Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our Republic…" pic.twitter.com/ZbA6eNcTsp

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 2, 2022

I checked the PBS video of that speech. There were no such warnings as Biden targeted MAGA people, suggesting that 74 million people were threats to the nation.