Republican senators grill Netflix executive for pushing out 'left-wing' propaganda

A pair of Republican senators grilled Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee antitrust hearing Tuesday over a string of programs that they claimed promoted left-wing ideology. 

Netflix has taken a lot of heat from conservatives recently over programs that include pro-LGBT and pro-choice messaging, including in shows designed for children, though the streaming service has maintained that it has programs for everyone. 

The Senate hearing comes as Netflix hopes to acquire Warner Bros Discovery in an $83 billion merger, though David Ellison’s Paramount has also put in a bid for WBD.

“Netflix has long been a left-wing company," Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz said during the hearing. “How are people at home [supposed to] feel even remotely confident that if this merger happens, the combined entity would not simply be a propaganda outlet pushing one particular political view with much greater market power than you have now?"

The sentiment was repeated by Missouri GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt, who criticized the service for promoting shows that allegedly change historical facts for diversity reasons, according to Deadline. 

“The overwhelming majority of your stuff right now is overwhelmingly woke, and it’s not reflective of what the American people want to see,” Schmitt told Sarandos. “Both you and Netflix have made a habit of promoting DEI and wokeness. I’ll just give a few examples, Netflix content is synonymous for the modern phenomenon of race swapping both historical and real and fictional characters.”

The senator then asked the executive if he stands by the decisions he made to promote "woke" ideology when he was Netflix's chief content officer. 

“Senator Schmitt, we have a great deal of programming on Netflix for all, left, right and center,” Sarandos replied. “We have state-of-the-art tools for parents to manage what their kids see on Netflix."

Sarandos also fended off questions from Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who questioned the Netflix CEO's meeting with President Donald Trump late last year, which occurred shortly before Warner Bros. accepted Netflix's acquisition offer. 

“I think the President, from my experience, has been nothing but interested in protecting and creating American jobs,” Sarandos said. “I think it's wholly proper for the President of the United States to talk to leaders of industry to discuss the industries they’re running.”

The CEO also stated that the meeting with Trump was not specifically about the proposed merger.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.