Cumulus Media is clamping down on claims about election fraud across their network of radio stations which feature right-wing talkers such as Mark Levin and Dan Bongino.
In a memo sent internally, executive vice president Brian Philips made clear that radio hosts will be fired if they start or continue to make baseless claims about election fraud.
‘We need to help induce national calm NOW,’ the memo read.
‘The election has been resolved, and there are no alternate acceptable ‘paths,’ the memo continued. ‘If you transgress this policy, you can expect to separate from the company immediately.’
Pictured: Dan Bongino, one of the conservative radio hosts under the Cumulus Media cloud
Pictured: Mark Levin, another prominent Cumulus personality who has pushed claims of fraud
Cumulus Media sent an internal memo to its 416 stations, threatening termination for any future claims of election fraud and urging its hosts to bring calm to their listeners
The memo was first obtained by Inside Music Media.
Cumulus Media is the second biggest operator of radio stations around the country, with 416 stations in its portfolio – the memo was likely sent to all of the stations.
Only iHeartMedia runs more radio stations around the United States.
Westwood One, which has prominent sports and talk radio content, is a subsidiary of Cumulus Media.
Several conservative talk show hosts are employees of Westwood One, including Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, and Dan Bongino.
Among the three, Shapiro has actually pushed most against claims of election fraud, tweeting ‘Trump has not already won the election, and it is deeply irresponsible for him to say he has’ in the immediate aftermath of November’s Election Day.
Ben Shapiro is another conservative radio host that falls under the Cumulus umbrella but he has steered clear of claims that the election was ‘stolen’ from Trump
Shapiro does not share some of the election fraud claims of his colleagues, though: ‘No, Trump has not already won the election, and it is deeply irresponsible for him to say he has.’
Levin, however, has continued to push claims of fraud, referring to the certification of the Electoral College results as ‘tyranny’ on Fox News last week.
On Sunday night on Fox News, Levin said, ‘Trump never incited the mob’ in reference to the Capitol insurrection.
Bongino has made similar claims of fraud and ironically told listeners that Democrats were planning a coup against Donald Trump on Election Day, the New York Times reported in October.
On Wednesday, a riot at the Capitol was viewed by many as an attempted coup by Trump supporters against the country’s leaders and democracy as a whole.
The memo is clearly a direct response to that as Philips is urging his employees to help bring calm back to the country.
It’s not clear if that memo is actually getting through to everyone, however.
Jeremy Boreing, an executive producer for Shapiro’s show, tweeted ‘Cumulus is not Ben’s employer and hasn’t told Ben jack sh*t about what he can or cannot say on air. Also, Ben never said the election was stolen. That’s at least three falsehoods in 280 characters or less, but pretty good journalisming otherwise.’
The executive producer of Shapiro’s show claims Cumulus isn’t Shapiro’s employer
Additionally, Levin has refuted receiving the memo from Cumulus Media so far
Additionally, Levin told The Right Scoop on Monday that nobody on his staff, including himself, had received the memo.
At least five have died in connection with Wednesday’s insurrection at the Capitol, which has left the Republican Party scrambling to do damage control.
House Democrats have introduced an article of impeachment and are still pushing for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, which would allow Vice President Pence and Trump’s cabinet to remove him from office with just nine days left to his term.
Bongino and Levin have both threatened to move from Twitter to Parler or Rumble so they can speak freely on what they choose after Twitter censored Trump.
That grew increasingly more difficult on Monday as Parler went dark after being dropped by Amazon, Apple, and Google.
