Trump Has Blunt Warning for Netflix: 'Stop the Cultural Takeover'

Donald Trump posted a simple message on social media Sunday directed toward the streaming giant Netflix: “Stop the cultural takeover.” 

 He was responding to an article by constitutional attorney John M. Pierce, which appeared on the outlet OAN in December and warned against Netflix’s attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) in a blockbuster Hollywood deal that would change the landscape of the entertainment world.

Pierce sounded the alarm on the cultural ramifications such a merger would bring:

Netflix’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is not simply another Hollywood deal. It is an attempt to consolidate unprecedented cultural power inside one of America’s most ideologically aggressive corporations — a company that has repeatedly used its global platform to elevate progressive narratives while suppressing dissenting viewpoints.

Trump evidently agrees:

A union of the two entertainment behemoths would put unprecedented power in one company:

Netflix needs federal approval for the blockbuster merger, which would combine the world's largest streaming platform with WBD's streaming service and one of the most valuable film and television libraries in history.

Critics argue the merger would concentrate unprecedented power over the streaming video and entertainment markets in a single corporation, Netflix.

A combined Netflix-WBD entity would control a dominant share of premium scripted content, global streaming distribution, and major intellectual property franchises, giving it outsized leverage over pricing, release windows, creative labor, and cultural narratives.

Netflix has been repeatedly criticized for pushing “woke values,” and as I’ve noted, you’d be hard-pressed to find a show on the platform that doesn’t have a close-up lesbian kiss, regardless of whether it has anything to do with the plot. More egregiously, they are known for inserting sexualized messages into children’s content (remember Cuties?). As our Brandon Morse opined, they spurred outrage by staging a coming-out scene at the denouement of what was otherwise a terrific series, Stranger Things, and even as the savage underworld beast is about to destroy the cast of wholesome teens (young adults), they find time to navel-gaze about their sexual preferences. It was ludicrous and felt utterly forced.

The same is true for countless other scenes in their offerings.

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In his article, Pierce stressed that it would be dangerous to put such a tremendous amount of cultural assets into one entity:

Pierce accused Netflix of promoting progressive narratives while marginalizing dissenting viewpoints.

Pierce argued that WBD's assets are not merely commercial properties, but cultural institutions whose consolidation under Netflix would create what he described as the most powerful cultural gatekeeper the United States has ever seen.

The dealmaking continues, and there is a rival offer on the table from Paramount Skydance to buy WBD. Some observers say that the offer is actually better than Netflix’s, but it is not getting as much love from Warner because the studio feels more ideologically aligned with Netflix. That’s code for saying that the key financial backer of Paramount Skydance’s proposal, billionaire Larry Ellison, is generally considered a conservative — and you know how much they like conservatives in Hollywood.

The long, involved deal-making process will continue, and regulators will be watching closely, but as Newsmax wrote, with Trump’s entry into the story, “the Netflix-WBD merger is no longer just a corporate transaction, but a political flashpoint.”