Trump says Netflix will face ‘consequences’ if it doesn’t fire board member Susan Rice
TL;DR
Trump threatens Netflix with 'consequences' if it doesn't fire board member Susan Rice, following her critical comments about corporations aligning with him. This comes amid Netflix's Warner Bros. acquisition needing regulatory approval.
President Donald Trump said in a social media post Saturday that Netflix will “pay the consequences” if it doesn’t fire Susan Rice, who has served as the company’s board of directors since 2018.
Trump’s comments came after Rice — a former ambassador to the United Nations who held diplomatic and advisory roles in the Obama and Biden administrations — appeared on the “Stay Tuned with Preet” podcast hosted by Preet Bhara and predicted that corporations that “take a knee” to Trump will be “held accountable” when Democrats return to power.
“If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are going to, you know, play by the old rules, and […] say, ‘Oh, never mind. We’ll forgive you for all the people you fired, all the policies and principles you’ve violated, all, you know, the laws you’ve skirted,’ I think they’ve got another thing coming,” Rice said.
In response, Trump posted on his social network Truth Social, “Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences. She’s got no talent or skills – Purely a political hack! HER POWER IS GONE, AND WILL NEVER BE BACK. How much is she being paid, and for what???”
Trump’s post also includes a screenshot of a post from far-right activist Laura Loomer criticizing Rice’s comments and claiming, “The Netflix-Warner Bros. merger would result in a streaming monopoly, which the Obamas will have a significant stake in” due to the deal between Netflix and the Obamas’ production company Higher Ground.
While Trump’s post does not mention specific consequences, Netflix’s massive Warner Bros. acquisition will need to be approved by federal regulators. The streaming company’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos reportedly met with Trump before the deal was announced, with Trump subsequently saying that Netflix is a “great company […] but it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens.”
Last fall, Trump published a similar post demanding that Microsoft fire its president of global affairs Lisa Monaco, who was also the target of Loomer’s criticism. Monaco is still at Microsoft.