SiriusXM Defends Decision to Permanently Hire Steve Bannon for ‘Breitbart News Daily’

‘SiriusXM Takes No Political Position’

Satellite and streaming radio company SiriusXM on Friday defended its decision to hire former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon to co-host “Breitbart News Daily” in a permanent position.

The company announced this week that Bannon would spearhead Breitbart’s more aggressive push into radio, as co-host of the three-hour show with Breitbart News editor-in-chief Alex Marlow.

“Beginning Tuesday, Bannon officially began his new gig… on a Sirius XM Radio channel dubbed The Patriot,” The Hollywood Reporter (THR) detailed this week, “which also features shows from Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.”

“Bannon is returning to the show after leaving it 16 months ago to join Trump’s presidential campaign as its CEO,” the outlet continued. “After the former TV host won the presidency, Bannon joined his White House staff but left in August to rejoin Breitbart.”

The announcement prompted actor Seth Rogan to drop his scheduled interviews on the platform, advising that he “can’t bring [himself] to appear on the same service that has decided to support Steve Bannon.” He made the announcement via Twitter, complete with some colorful language:

It was that move that forced SiriusXM to defend its decision, telling THR: 

“Since its inception, SiriusXM has promised to deliver a diversity of opinions and viewpoints, from conservative to progressive to everything in between,” spokesman Patrick Reilly said in a statement to THR. “SiriusXM takes no political position of our own across our more than 175 channels, but we are here to provide an open forum no matter where listeners stand on the political spectrum. Free speech is vitally important. We ardently believe that by allowing a virtually unlimited platform of viewpoints, we are doing our best to uphold that core value.”

Bannon, still a Trump loyalist and like the president, a staunch defender of accused child molester Roy Moore, has bragged that Breitbart is “the platform for the alt-right.”

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