GWAR’s Berzerker Blothar has hit out at the US government’s proposed cuts to public media, urging fans to do their bit to block the bill.
In May, Donald Trump signed an executive order that would end the federal funding for organisations including National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), with the legislation now facing a critical vote in the Senate.
The bill would save $1.1billion, with Trump arguing that NPR and PBS are “biased media” that do not offer “fair, accurate, unbiased and nonpartisan news coverage”. Defenders of public media, on the other hand, argue that it serves as the only media source for many rural, Native American and island communities, with more than 44million people relying on public radio every week and public TV reaching over 160million people annually.
Now, GWAR bassist and singer Blothar has issued a rallying cry for people to resist the passing of the bill. In a video posted to X, he said: “Humans, this is the Berzerker Blothar of GWAR and I’m here to talk to you about public media. Public media is in danger.”
Blothar with a very important message about public media. Public media is in danger. Go to https://t.co/jYxXw24S35 to learn how you can urge Congress to save public media. Call your senators. Make a difference. pic.twitter.com/uItxiEiubc
— GWAR (@gwar) July 14, 2025
“You know many years ago my personal friend, the great Fred Rogers, he testified in Congress about the value of public media, about how important it was in children’s lives,” he continued. “He famously secured funding for National Public Radio because he was able to demonstrate that it makes a difference and that’s important. Mr. Rogers brought love and light into the world, into a dark and hateful world.
“Well, now that is on the chopping block right now,” he added. “The Senate will vote on a House-passed Rescissions Act this week that will eliminate $1.1billion in already approved funding for public media. This would strip essential services. It could force rural stations to go off the air entirely. They won’t be able to pay licensing fees the same way they did for music. This could very well silence the music.
“I’ll tell you what else. It’s going to take away art and culture or at least access to that from the lives of people who need it and benefit from it.”
“Rise up, people!” he urged. “In the name of Fred Rogers! In the name of Big Bird! In the drunken Lady Elaine Fairchild! Changes to this bill are still possible. Now is the time to urge your senators to remove the proposal that targets public media in the package of this Big Beautiful Bill.”
He implored people to go to protectmypublicmedia.org to pressure Congress. “Call your senators. Make a difference. Do it now because there’s not a lot of time. Thank you!” he concluded.
Trump has previously dubbed the media the “enemy of the people”, and previously took to the Truth Social platform to write: “Republicans must defund and totally disassociate themselves from NPR & PBS, the radical left ‘monsters’ that so badly hurt our country!”
Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS, has said: “The president’s blatantly unlawful executive order, issued in the middle of the night, threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years.”
Other cuts from the Trump administration to raise the ire of the entertainment industry include those to the USAID budget, which Elton John warned would have “devastating effects” on the global response to HIV.
