Trump’s War on Truth: From Public Broadcasting to Prager “University”

"Prager University" is neither a university nor named after an academic—it's a dangerous right wing evangelical indoctrination machine

The Trump regime has made clear that it views truth, diversity, and shared humanity not as values to be upheld but as obstacles to be destroyed. One of the most alarming fronts in this battle is its campaign to gut the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Unfortunately, as Trump guts public education as a whole, entities like Prager “University”—a right-wing, unaccredited propaganda machine that cloaks itself in the language of education while spreading anti-Black, anti-immigrant, anti-Latino, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-woman lies—seek to fill that void. This isn’t an accident. It’s a strategy. Let’s Address This.

Dennis Prager, the conservative talkshow host and founder of the Prager University Foundation, which is not an accredited education organization. Characters in PragerU’s videos downplay the horrors of slavery and make false claims about the climate crisis. [Credit: The Guardian Getty Images/PragerU]

Public Broadcasting’s Mission: Uplifting Truth and Humanity

For decades, the CPB—through PBS, NPR, and local stations—has sought, with all its imperfections, to provide a baseline of truth, inclusion, and education to Americans. It’s been a place where children learned empathy through Sesame Street, where communities could access reporting free from corporate chokeholds, and where diverse voices found platforms they were denied elsewhere.

Public broadcasting was not perfect. But it was designed to serve the public interest—to give all Americans, regardless of wealth or power, access to culture, history, science, and storytelling that connect us to one another’s shared humanity. Likewise, our public school system isn’t perfect, but it is grounded in fact and truth—and constantly improving to be more inclusive and representative.

And that is precisely why Trump and his enablers want to kill public broadcasting and public education. Because authoritarianism cannot tolerate diversity or dissent. Fascism thrives on fear, division, and ignorance. Public broadcasting has long served as an antidote to these poisons by shining light where authoritarianism thrives in the shadows. Today, Trump’s movement follows the same script as past authoritarian regimes: silence the voices that expose white supremacy, corporate greed, and state-sanctioned cruelty.

Enter Prager “University”

Prager “University” (PragerU) is not a university at all. It has no accreditation, no peer-reviewed scholarship, and no legitimate academic standing. What it does have is dark money from far-right billionaires and political operatives who understand that controlling the next generation’s worldview is the surest path to consolidating power. Yet, it is quickly replacing factual information and reporting, on the taxpayer dime no less. PragerU reports on its own website how its an official approved educational resource in at least 10 states, and growing.

PragerU churns out slick, deceptively packaged videos designed to look educational—but which instead indoctrinate children with whitewashed history, anti-science rhetoric, and bigoted stereotypes. It tells students that systemic racism doesn’t exist, that climate change is exaggerated, that immigration is a threat, that feminism destroys families, and that LGBTQ people are dangerous to society. It is only a matter of time before the White House and the Federal government under the Trump regime try to push Prager propaganda nationwide.

Indoctrination Masquerading as Education

For example, Prager portrays icons like Frederick Douglass as a man who celebrated white Americans for allegedly ending slavery, refusing to ‘live in the past,’ and even defending slavery as a ‘compromise.’ Prager portrays Columbus—a genocidal sociopath and rapist—as a magnanimous and thoughtful person. It portrays the Founding Fathers—many of whom were enslavers and rapists—as near flawless individuals.

This isn’t education. It’s indoctrination. And we must remain aware on how to fight back. Indeed, by diverting funds away from CPB and into PragerU, Trump’s allies are ensuring that instead of a child learning kindness from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, they are taught suspicion and hatred of their neighbor. Instead of being exposed to diverse authors, musicians, and scientists, they are funneled a single, toxic worldview designed to protect the wealthy, punish the marginalized, and entrench authoritarian rule.

Make no mistake—this is not about budget cuts. This is about replacing truth with propaganda.

How We Fight Back

1. Support Independent Media

I launched Let’s Address This to loudly and clearly confront injustice while demanding accountability. More than 540 articles and 31 million readers later, we’ve built a movement. A movement is never one person—it’s a community.

So, if you’re a subscriber, thank you. If you’re not yet, please join us. No paywalls. No billionaire backers. Just people-powered media. Every subscription, every share, every read chips away at the disinformation machine.

2. Use Ground News to Cut Through the Noise

With at least 10 states adopting PragerU as it’s “official” indoctrination machine, we need to be ready to fight back. It is not ironic to me that Trump, a man who was forced to pay $25 million in damages for a fake Trump University curriculum targeting young adults, is now embracing another fake university to indoctrinate young children. So, given this reality, how do we know the article we’re reading is grounded in fact, not government talking points? Here, as I’ve shared a few times before (and will no doubt remind you again at some point in the future) I invite you to look at what Ground News has to offer. This is not just news website or app—it’s a critical tool in a disinformation age. If you care about combatting misinformation and disinformation—and I know you do—you need Ground News. Here’s how it works.

Ground News gathers related articles globally in one place, then it reveals their source bias and factuality. This helps users cut through partisanship and sensationalism to focus on the facts. Ground News lets you know who is funding a media outlet—is it a legitimate organization or some dark pac with a right wing agenda?

So even if you didn’t know a media outlet was funded by the same right wing billionaires who fund “PragerU,” you would be able to discover that with ease. And Ground News shows you where media funding comes from, you can ensure your information consumption habits are good habits, not at the mercy of propaganda.

And finally, Ground News itself is subscriber supported. It is not billionaire funded. So by subscribing, you do two important things. One, you directly support my newsletter. And two, you contribute to keeping the media transparent. And right now if you subscribe to Ground News at my exclusive link below, you’ll conveniently get 40% off their Vantage Plan, the same one I use. That's $5/month to stop letting other people's agendas control how you think.

Conclusion: Why This Matters Now

If public broadcasting was about cultivating a citizenry capable of empathy, critical thought, and respect for democracy, then replacing it with PragerU is about cultivating a citizenry primed for obedience, resentment, and authoritarianism.

We’ve seen this movie before. History tells us exactly where it leads. When leaders dismantle independent sources of truth and replace them with propaganda mouthpieces, democracy itself becomes the casualty. The battle over the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is about far more than funding or programming. It’s about whether America remains a democracy rooted in truth—or slides further into authoritarian rule built on lies.

We are being tested. Do we allow fascism to rewrite reality for the next generation? Or do we fight back to defend truth, justice, and shared humanity? This exactly is why I created Let’s Address This. If you believe in that mission—if you believe in integrity in media that doesn’t flinch when power roars—then now is the time to act.

👉 Subscribe to this human rights newsletter.
👉 Share this with someone who might be influenced by PragerU propaganda.
👉 Join Ground News, and reclaim a media narrative grounded in verifiable facts.

Sitting idle is not an option. Let’s act and continue to fight for a media grounded in facts and integrity.