(CNS News) -- Commenting on the 200-plus Simon & Schuster employees demanding that their employ cease publication of a book by former Vice President Mike Pence, and reject any book proposals from former Trump administration workers, Christian leader Franklin Graham said the "radical left" and its "cancel culture" want to silence conservatives and move America "down a road toward communism."
Communist regimes, such as China, Cuba, North Korea (and the former Soviet Union), regularly censor books and publications that run contrary to the ideology of their totalitarian ruling parties. National Socialist Germany also censored and burned the books it did not like.
In an Apr. 28 post on Facebook, Rev. Graham wrote, "216 of publishing giant Simon & Schuster’s employees were demanding that they cancel a book deal with former Vice President Mike Pence, but that’s not all. They demanded that the company not publish any books by ANYONE who was a part of the Trump administration!"
"Simply put, the radical left and their 'cancel culture' want to silence the voices of conservatives who stand against their agendas," wrote Graham.
"They are trying to take our country down a road toward communism—and America had better wake up," he added.
"Thankfully, Simon & Schuster’s CEO didn’t cave and has announced they will be publishing Mike Pence’s memoirs," Graham concluded.
As the Wall Street Journal reported on Apr. 26, 216 Simon & Schuster employees and more than 3,500 people outside the company signed a petition demanding that the company not publish any books by Trump administration officials.
The letter to Simon & Schuster senior executives says asks the company not to treat “the Trump administration as a ‘normal’ chapter in American history.”
The letter further said, “When S&S chose to sign Mike Pence, we broke the public’s trust in our editorial process, and blatantly contradicted previous public claims in support of Black and other lives made vulnerable by structural oppression.”
After learning about the petition, Simon & Schuster Chief Executive Jonathan Karp sent a letter to his employees explaining why the company would publish Pence's memoir.
“As a publisher in this polarized era, we have experienced outrage from both sides of the political divide and from different constituencies and groups," wrote Karp. "But we come to work each day to publish, not cancel, which is the most extreme decision a publisher can make, and one that runs counter to the very core of our mission to publish a diversity of voices and perspectives.” (Emphasis added.)