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Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., called Netflix “demonic” for targeting children with pro-transgender content, and he wants the streaming giant’s executives to explain their intentions on Capitol Hill.
Burchett penned a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky, last week expressing interest in calling Netflix executives to Capitol Hill after a viral clip of a children’s show called “Dead End: Paranormal Park” showed a character coming out as trans. The show aired in 2022 with only 20 episodes.
“We need to get them for the committee and ask them what their intentions are with this and if, in fact, they realize what the heck is going on,” Rep. Burchett told Fox News Digital.
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“If they don’t come in voluntarily, we ought to subpoena them. Because this is a serious issue. It affects the mental health of our young people, the moral degradation of our society,” he continued. “And I would love to sit across the table and ask them some questions.”
“Dead End Paranormal Park” is not the first Netflix program to offend conservative parents. Another Netflix kids show, “Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City,” promoted transgender drag queens, and Netflix’s “The Baby-Sitters Club” featured a child character shaming doctors for referring to a trans, child patient by the pronouns of their biological sex.
Netflix’s “Transformers: Earthspark” has also come under fire for pushing the term “nonbinary” despite being geared to children as young as 7, while “Monster High: The Movie” features teenage characters explaining their preferred pronouns. Billionaire Elon Musk is among the many Americans who have called for parents to cancel Netflix.
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Burchett, who admits he enjoyed Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” on Netflix before the disputes over children’s content on the platform, wants to ensure Netflix honchos are peppered with questions and believes it’s a critical issue for all parents in America.
“I would hope that Congress could rein these corporate giants in to the fact that they do have to have some moral standards. Spreading this demonic filth to our children is definitely wrong,” the congressman said.
“The transgender issue is a mental health issue, is what it is. I don’t think we should be celebrating or promoting it is very harmful to these folks,” Burchett continued. “The shows that they are targeting for children, for instance, that are showing a little boy becoming a girl, which is biologically impossible… to me, they’re just recruiting or grooming young children.”
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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As for what kind of authority Congress has over a company like Netflix, the lawmaker said that simply depends on who you ask.
“It’s always a First Amendment right, but the First Amendment goes so far you can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater, people will get trampled running out, you could be held liable for that. So, it does have its limitations,” he said.
“I’m sure the First Amendment folks will be concerned, as they should,” he continued. “But again, I don’t think the First Amendment was any shape, form, or fashion was designed to protect people from harming children, which is exactly what this is about.”
Burchett also said Netflix and other streaming services are “communications corporations,” so the FCC could get involved. However, he’s well aware that FCC guidelines are designed for content “over the airways,” whereas modern content is largely digital.
“We’re going to have to address all those matters,” he said.
The Tennessee lawmaker pointed to the COVID pandemic as contributing to a major increase in promotion of transgender issues targeted towards children.
“When we cut our young people off from any interaction other than with the computer screen, I think we saw that market exploded for those folks to recruit and to groom young children. And I think it’s wrong,” he said.
Netflix and Comer’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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