(Headline USA) CNN and MSNBC refused to air former President Donald Trump’s speech following his court hearing on Tuesday, claiming it could have been “potentially dangerous” for viewers.
Trump addressed his supporters after appearing in a Miami court to face a federal grand jury’s indictment. Trump slammed the “sham” indictment, which included 37 charges for alleged mishandling of classified information, as “election interference” by the Biden administration and “the most heinous abuse of power in the history of our country.”
He also blasted special counsel Jack Smith as a biased, “deranged lunatic,” and accused President Joe Biden of having his “top political opponent arrested and charged.”
While Trump delivered the speech, CNN’s Jake Tapper announced on air that the network would not be showing it live, claiming it could be “dangerous” for the network to do so.
“We’re not carrying his remarks live because, frankly, he says a lot of things that are not true and sometimes potentially dangerous,” Tapper said.
Likewise, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow announced Trump’s speech would not be made available to viewers.
“We are prepared for his pre-fundraiser remarks tonight to again, essentially, be a Trump campaign speech. Because of that, we do not intend to carry these remarks live,” she said.
“As we have said before in these circumstances, there is a cost to us as a news organization to knowingly broadcast untrue things. We are here to bring you the news. It hurts our ability to do that if we live broadcast what we fully expect in advance to be a litany of lies and false accusations, no matter who says them.”
Maddow admitted this had been a thought-through decision, but said MSNBC might change course if Trump said anything “newsworthy.”
CNN’s Oliver Darcy admitted in his morning newsletter that the network’s decision to censor Trump’s speech was only possible because of CEO Chris Licht’s recent ousting. He noted that, under Licht, CNN aired most of Trump’s remarks because Licht viewed them as an important part of the story.
