Dutch Government Weighs Removing on From Public Broadcasting Over Hitler Clip

Education, Culture and Science Minister Letschert made the remarks before the cabinet meeting, saying she is weighing the options. "What am I legally allowed to do? What does society say?

What does parliament say? Together, all of that will ultimately lead to a final decision," she said. A decision on the public broadcaster will come "very soon," she added.

ON has come under fire over an online broadcast from late July in which a statement by Adolf Hitler was discussed. In the clip, Hitler rails against a "uprooted international clique, with someone in the audience shouting "Jews! Presenter Arlette Adriani put a statement to editor-in-chief Joost Niemöller and presenter Raisa Blommestijn: "The cosmopolitan elite is, by necessity, fundamentally hostile to the ordinary rooted people." Both said they agreed.

Niemöller said Hitler said certain things "just very well, and that there are "certain things about Hitler" he also endorses, apart from the German leader's antisemitism." Both stressed they do not share all of the dictator's ideology. The ombudsman for public broadcasters received dozens of complaints about the broadcast. After the controversy erupted, ON director Peter Vlemmix said "too little account was taken of sensitivities.

Letschert called the broadcast "terrible, distasteful, hurtful and unnecessary. ON has been reprimanded before for violating journalistic rules and has received multiple sanctions. Calls have been growing in the House of Representatives to remove the broadcaster from the public system, with a majority in favor according to AD (in July) and RTL Nieuws (today).

The minister stressed that any decision to remove a broadcaster must be legally sound. I can act tough and say: I'll do this right now.