By Illinois Review
In the wake of DirectTV and AT&T censoring Newsmax and dropping the 4th highest rated conservative cable news channel in the country, a Chicago GOP Facebook discussion group run by Chicago Republican Party Director of Communications Jeff Fiedler, has decided to silence conservative voices, news, opinion and perspectives, and remove articles published by Illinois Review from their Facebook group.
In a message on Thursday to grassroots conservative and Illinois Review contributor Mark Weyermuller, who frequently posts IR articles on the Chicago GOP Facebook group on topics related to Illinois News, Illinois Politics, Second Amendment, Faith and Family and America First, a message from an administrator of the group wrote,
“Mark, we’re not going to permit reposting Illinois Review articles on the discussion site run by the Chicago Republican Party. They can remain on Illinois Review.”
And in a cheap shot aimed at Weyermuller, they conclude the message with,
“Please continue to promo events and your pictures with Republicans and celebrities. TY”
The Chicago GOP Facebook discussion group is an extension of the official Chicago Republican Party Facebook page, and allows Republicans across Chicago to post, promote articles and upcoming events.
Fiedler is an administrator for the Chicago GOP Facebook discussion group. He’s also listed as the point of contact on the official Chicago GOP Facebook page and website.
The official page is reserved for posts by Chicago GOP officials only, but the discussion group page is inclusive of all local Republicans, who post frequently, including Weyermuller.
The only censoring the Chicago GOP Facebook group should support is censoring the teaching of sexual education and critical race theory in our classrooms.
Instead, the group calls a play out of the Democratic playbook and chooses to censor free speech and mute conservative voices associated with Illinois Review.
Fiedler was a supporter of the Richard Irvin campaign for governor during the 2022 Republican Primary.
Earlier on Thursday, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy weighed in on the censorship of Newsmax, saying,
“I had discussions with a couple members now because it’s very concerning to me…I would hate to see somebody being kicked off simply because they provide something conservative…”
Speaker McCarthy has also expressed his support for committee hearings to investigate the censorship and silencing of conservative voices in America.
Big tech censorship has become a major topic of discussion in the new Republican-led House of Representatives, and the leaders of Facebook, Google, Twitter and now AT&T DirecTV will soon be called to testify before Congress.
The Chicago GOP group has a total of 832 members, a surprisingly low number considering there are over 2.6 million people in Chicago.
Recently, Illinois Review has written articles calling out the Chicago GOP for wanting to endorse a Democratic candidate in the “nonpartisan” mayoral race, despite being a “Republican” organization; exposing Chicago GOP chair Stephen Boulton’s repulsive comments on Facebook about the unvaccinated – saying they should pay for their own hospital bills if they are hospitalized – don’t make the insurance companies or the vaccinated pay their bills; life saving measures to save the life of an unvaccinated person is “wasteful” spending; and Boulton’s history of attacking conservative women online.
But aside from casting sunlight on the inner workings of the Chicago GOP and the personal perspectives of its leaders, Illinois Review continues to publish an overwhelming majority of articles focused on conservative news and opinion – standing up for the grassroots, and challenging the establishment leadership of the IL GOP, who seem more concerned with maintaining their power and titles than actually winning and supporting the grassroots.
Boulton and Fiedler remain fierce allies and defenders of embattled IL GOP chairman Don Tracy.