UPDATE [7/7/23, 8:22 a.m. EST]: Levin posted to Twitter on Thursday that Target “has reversed course and will be taking my new book in its stores upon its release.” He added, “You folks are an immense force for free speech and market capitalism, and conservative authors and audiences everywhere will benefit from your patriotism.”
Fox News host Mark Levin has accused Target stores of refusing to sell his book.
Target will not carry THE DEMOCRAT PARTY HATES AMERICA because it might offend Democrats. Pathetic. You can go to https://t.co/qUZvhEf1BI and order directly, without going through Democrat-Party corporatists. I want to thank Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and Books-A- Million for… pic.twitter.com/pqzZVgGqAC
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) July 6, 2023
He posted about the issue on Wednesday, stating, “Target will not carry THE DEMOCRAT PARTY HATES AMERICA because it might offend Democrats.”
Levin thanked other retailers for carrying his work and called Target’s alleged decision “pathetic.”
In another tweet, he decried it as “corporatist leftwing censorship.”
Target has informed my publisher, Simon & Schuster, that it will not carry my new book when it is released on September 19. It claims that certain customers might be offended by the title. Imagine that! So, the corporatist leftwing censorship begins. I will discuss this in…
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) July 5, 2023
Other conservatives have expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the publishing industry.
In May, former chief of staff at the Pentagon and former deputy director of national intelligence Kash Patel sued the Department of Defense for ‘obstructing and infringing’ on his rights by delaying his book release, per Breitbart.
He stated, “They have admitted in writing that they’re going to censor the book and nonclassified information, which is illegal.”
His book, ‘Government Gangsters’ has since been released, and the lawsuit dropped.
In another case, after the events on Jan. 6, 2021, publisher Simon & Schuster released a statement notifying readers that they were canceling Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) book, ‘The Tyranny of Big Tech.’
The publisher wrote:
“We did not come to this decision lightly. As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: at the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom.”
Hawley found a different publisher, Regnery Publishing, and both his title, and Kash Patel’s went on to become bestsellers.
Now, Levin is claiming to face the same type of issue, but pre-sales for his upcoming release have already granted him a best-seller status on Amazon.