The Darkness Behind
The Endearing Smile
AT&T has a stranglehold on much of what you see and hear and contrary to its well-crafted public image, the mammoth international conglomerate has funneled millions of dollars to right wing politicians and campaigns, including the nefarious “One America News” (OAN), an on-line network that consistently supports trump and a range of conspiracy theories from alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential election to the use of bogus treatments for COVID-19. AT&T has contributed to politicians who claim the Jan. 6 riot was little more than Americans exercising their right to free speech and to campaigns to attack the LGBTQ movement. The One America News network also has sold significant infomercial time to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a leading purveyor of false claims the election was stolen.
The world’s largest telecommuncations company has projected a progressive puppy dog vision through its ad campaign with the irresistible smile of the bubbly, perky, young store clerk, Lily Adams, to the company’s former campaign to “reach out and touch someone.” One of the biggest tearjerkers in commercial history was the AT&T 1981 campaign known as “Joey called” which focused on a phone call to a young boy who called his parents just to say “I love you.”
But the reality is much darker from the day when the original company was created in 1885 by Alexander Graham Bell.
For a bit of perspective worthy of a major gobsmack, Dallas-based AT&T, a mobile-phone and Internet provider, also owns entertainment giant Warner Media, which includes CNN and HBO, AT&T SportsNet, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, Cinemax, DC Comics, TNT, Turner Classic Movies and of course, Warner Bros. The AT&T net income with all of its tentacles in 2020 was $5.18 billion and it employs 230,000 people around the world.
In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 rebellion at the Capitol and growing support for the unfounded claims that trump lost because of widespread voter fraud, AT&T issued a statement in support of voter rights. But the same day that AT&T issued its statement, the AT&T Texas PAC reported it had contributed $100,000 to Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The donation came on the same day Abbott called for a special legislative session to pass a voter suppression bill among other controversial right-wing priorities, according to a statement from the non-partisan, watchdog group, Accountable.US.
Earlier this year, state legislatures across the country, including Texas, started crafting a series of racially motivated anti-voter bills. AT&T issued a public statement of apparent disapproval when AT&T CEO John Stankey said “We believe the right to vote is sacred and we support voting laws that make it easier for more Americans to vote in free, fair and secure elections. We are working to support efforts to enhance every person’s ability to vote. We believe the right to vote is sacred and we support voting laws that make it easier for more Americans to vote in free, fair and secure elections.”
Accountable.US reported that AT&T affiliated PACs have donated more than $360,000 into the campaigns of the 15 members of the Texas House and Senate committees that have advanced voting restriction bills during this special session. The contributions, listed in AT&T Texas PAC’s July report filed with the Texas Ethics Commission, included thousands of dollars to Texas state GOP Sens. Kelly Hancock and Robert Lee Nichols, who both backed a sweeping elections bill that Democrats and voting rights groups have said “would make it exponentially more difficult for certain groups of voters, including minorities and people with disabilities, to cast their ballots,” Accountable.US reported.
In further support of right wing causes, a story by Reuters reported that AT&T has been a “crucial source of funds flowing into OAN, providing tens of millions of dollars in revenue,” according to court records. OAN’s influence rose in late 2015, when it began covering Trump rallies live. The network continues to provide a friendly showcase for trump and his Republican allies.
As president, Trump frequently urged supporters to watch OAN. The network’s online audience soared in November, after conservative mainstay and OAN competitor Fox News affirmed Joe Biden’s victory. Trump and his camp blasted Fox. In January, Trump supporters, including at least one carrying an OAN flag, stormed the U.S. Capitol. That month, app installs for OAN spiked again to 517,000, Reuters reported.
YouTube suspended OAN last year for, among other things, repeatedly violating its COVID-19 policy, which prohibits content claiming there’s a guaranteed cure. OAN touts hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug promoted by Trump, without scientific evidence, as a cure for COVID.
During last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, OAN aired an unconfirmed report that an elderly demonstrator in Buffalo, N.Y., who was knocked down and seriously injured by police was trying to jam the cops’ radios. Trump, citing the OAN story, tweeted that the man “could be an ANTIFA provocateur.”
Since March, OAN has sold hours of infomercial time to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a leading purveyor of false claims the election was stolen. Lindell has used that time on OAN to repeatedly broadcast his election conspiracy “docu-movies.”
In a related issue, a June 15, 2021 story in thehill.com reported that while AT&T and other major companies, including CVS, Comcast and Walmart have publicly supported LGBTQ+ rights, the companies have donated thousands of dollars to right wing causes. AT&T donated thousands to candidates opposed to LGBTQ+ rights in the South. AT&T, which pledged to a Human Rights Campaign letter opposing anti-LGBTQ+ state legislation, supported sponsors of anti-trans legislation in Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas and Florida, totaling about $62,000, the story found.