NBC Refuses To Run Ad Critical Of China, US Congressman Says
A U.S. congressman says NBC is refusing to broadcast an ad critical of China during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, who represents Florida's 6th congressional district, called the event the “Genocide Games," and pointed out China’s long history of human rights abuses, the New York Post reports.
“This is the equivalent of holding the Olympics in Germany in the 1940s or Rwanda during their atrocities,” Waltz told The Post. “It is beyond the pale that the didn’t move the games.”
Waltz told the outlet that the 30-second ad was $40,000 and was billed to his campaign.
The Post reports the ad criticized companies for their business relationships with China, including Visa, Coca-Cola, Nike, Intel, Procter & Gamble and more.
“I think the companies supporting it should be absolutely ashamed,” the Florida lawmaker told The Post. “Many of them preach social justice and contribute millions of dollars to social justice causes and yet are turning a blind eye to the genocide going on. Many of them are complicit with their own supply chains.”
While the U.S. declared a diplomatic boycott of the games on Dec. 6 and NBC as a network is under fire, NBC’s Olympics host Mike Tirico opened network coverage of the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing by addressing the host country’s geopolitical and human rights issues.
Waltz, the first Green Beret to serve in Congress, has long been a tough China critic. He serves on the House China Task Force with 15 Republican lawmakers representing 14 committees of jurisdiction to coordinate policy on China.
Waltz introduced a resolution in February 2021 calling on the U.S. Olympic Committee to withdraw from the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing unless the International Olympic Committee found an alternative site.
“The Chinese Communist Party has carried out a number of heinous acts in the last year alone that should disqualify them from hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics," Waltz wrote in the February 2021 news release.