Rep. Michael Waltz claims that NBC refused to air an ad criticizing companies in the United States for funding the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The ad, which Waltz posted to Twitter, specifically names companies funding the Olympics and includes a cameo from Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom, known for his ardent criticism of China.
“NBC refused to air my Olympics ad with @EnesFreedom unless we censor U.S. corporate logos of the Genocide Games sponsors,” Waltz tweeted on Saturday. “We won’t let them silence us.”
TWITTER POINTS TO IOC AS CAUSE FOR REMOVAL OF VIDEO ON OLYMPICS AND UYGHURS
NBC challenged the Florida Republican’s description of events.
“Per NBCUniversal’s long-standing advertising guidelines, changes to the ad were requested so it could air,” an NBCUniversal spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
NBCUniversal’s advertising standards bar any submitted ads from directly attacking other organizations, including businesses or nonprofit groups. If Waltz had agreed to remove the company logos, he could have resubmitted the ad, the company stated.
NBC refused to air my Olympics ad with @EnesFreedom unless we censor U.S. corporate logos of the Genocide Games sponsors.
We won’t let them silence us.
Here’s the ad that NBC and the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t want you to see ? pic.twitter.com/0y35Z6KdZC
— Rep. Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) February 5, 2022
Waltz shared “the ad that NBC and the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t want you to see” on Twitter on Saturday.
“The world’s greatest athletic showcase, but just outside the show: rape, genocide, slave labor,” Waltz narrates in the ad. “American companies are drunk on Chinese dollars, entangled with communist dictators committing atrocities, and propping up these genocide games staged by the Chinese Communist Party.”
“Stand for freedom, defund the dictators,” Kanter adds, with the pair then cautioning, “When you see ‘Made in China,’ put it down.”
The ad features the logos of Procter & Gamble, Visa, Coca-Cola, Airbnb, Intel, and Nike. All of the companies listed except Nike are sponsors of the International Olympic Committee. Nike provided uniforms for Team USA.
Waltz has been critical of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“China should not be permitted to enjoy the wealth of economic benefits and free publicity that come with hosting the Olympics when it acts as if imprisoning millions of its citizens based on their ethnicity and religion or unleashing a pandemic on the rest of the world is normal behavior,” Waltz wrote in a February 2021 Washington Examiner opinion piece.
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Freedom accused Nike of profiting from Uyghur slave labor, expressing his beliefs by wearing shoes in October last year with “hypocrite Nike,” “modern-day slavery,” “no more excuses,” and “made with slave labor” written all over them.
The Olympics, which began on Friday, have been marked by controversy, with several U.S. officials warning that athletes who engage in protests against the Chinese government during the games could face dangerous repercussions in a country known for cracking down on dissent.
