Donald Trump lashed out at ABC and NBC, the two networks that chose not to carry his speech live on their broadcast platforms, as he delivered a 25-minute long speech full of claims that included China obtaining voter registration data and the “deep state” withholding that intelligence from him.
Without evidence, Trump claimed that ABC and NBC and others in the media “want to continue this fraud for whatever reason. They want to keep it going. They want to protect the radical left. They can’t have a great country, and that’s true. You can’t have a great country without free and fair elections. Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses. They use our public multi-billion dollar in value airwaves for absolutely no money. They pay nothing. All we want is honesty in our elections and honesty in reporting.”
The networks had announced earlier in the day that they would not carry the speech, but would feature it live on their streaming channels.
CBS News did air the speech — albeit not in its entirety. But anchor Tony Dokoupil preceded the address by telling viewers, “Honestly, much of what the president has said on this topic is false.” He then explained why they were doing a special report, noting, “This speech will be made. It will be news. And it is our job to cover the news.”
Then he went to Major Garrett, who offered some context on what viewers could expect to hear. After CBS News cut away from the speech, Garrett said that one of the most newsworthy claims — that China acquired 220 million voter records — was unsubstantiated. It also was addressed on the network by David Becker, of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. “It sounds bad when you hear about it, right? But the reality is, voter files in the United States are public.”
Trump’s threat of NBC and ABC is nothing new. he’s done that before. But ABC already has been ordered to put the licenses of its eight owned and operated stations up for an early renewal by the FCC and its chairman, Brendan Carr. Such a rare move opens up the stations to challenges to its licenses as the FCC determines whether they have served the “public interest.”
ABC is challenging the early license renewal, calling it an “extraordinary demonstration of power and coercion.” Carr has said that the early license renewal was tied to an investigation of the network’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, but it was launched after Trump called on the network to fire Jimmy Kimmel.
The FCC also is investigating NBC-parent Comcast over DEI, but Carr has not said whether he would call for additional early license renewals.
Despite ABC and NBC not airing the speech, screen grabs were posted on social media showed that some Sinclair-owned stations did carry it as part of their National Desk. A spokesperson for the broadcast group did not immediately return a request for comment.
In the aftermath of the speech, networks devoted some time to fact checking claims — or at least warning that portions of what Trump said was unverified.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, posted on X, “It’s pretty laughable to watch Trump try and pretend accessing the voter file is the same thing as election interference. Any statewide candidate will tell you that information is publicly available to purchase — it’s not some huge breach.”
More to come.
