CBS News carried a portion of President Trump’s prime-time address on alleged election fraud Thursday night, cutting in after the remarks had already begun and later returning to regular coverage as he urged federal action against ABC and NBC for declining to broadcast the speech.
Before the network joined the address, CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil framed the decision for viewers, noting that “much of what the President has said on [security of American elections] has been false.”
Dokoupil acknowledged the editorial dilemma directly. “There is an argument that it’s irresponsible to air the president’s speech tonight. But this speech will be made. It will be news. And it’s our job to cover the news,” he said.
CBS cut away roughly five minutes before Trump concluded, shortly after the president said ABC and NBC should lose their government licenses because they chose not to air his comments live.
After leaving the speech, Dokoupil moved quickly into a fact-check of Trump’s assertions about alleged Chinese interference in the 2020 election.
Broadcast and cable news organizations are not required to carry presidential remarks in full, and network executives generally decide whether to air an address based on its substance and news value.
In April, when Trump delivered a prime-time address about the war with Iran, the major networks carried the remarks live.
Even so, Trump and members of his team publicly criticized the outlets that opted not to broadcast Thursday’s 25-minute speech.
Trump, in his remarks, claimed China worked with some American journalists to discredit him.
He said ABC and NBC knew the topic he would speak on and didn’t “like” it.
“They knew what it was about because of the fact that they don’t like the topic because they know how corrupt our system is, and they don’t want to reveal it,” he said.
“They and others in the media are part of a plot. They want to continue this fraud for whatever reason. They want to keep it going. They want to protect the radical left,” he added.
He demanded: “Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses.”
ABC and NBC carried the speech on their streaming platforms but did not air it live on their TV networks. The latter also aired a network special after the speech wrapped.
White House communications director Steven Cheung blasted their decision.
“Cowards. NBC and ABC don’t want you to hear the truth. All they want to do is hide the facts from YOU,” he wrote on X ahead of the president’s remarks.
On the cable side, CNN did not air the speech live, but Fox News did. MS Now aired parts of Trump’s remarks.
Cable networks do not have a broadcast license from the Federal Communications Commission, as the broadcast networks have.
The FCC has the legal authority to revoke a broadcast license or deny its renewal but any such move would likely face a lengthy legal challenge from the networks.
