CNN, MSNBC Refuse To Air Trump’s Post-Indictment ‘Litany Of Lies’

If former President Donald Trump thought his speech Tuesday night was important enough to be carried live on all of the cable news networks, he was wrong. CNN and MSNBC both refused to take the speech live, with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow telling viewers “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.”

On CNN, Jake Tapper explained the decision not to air Trump’s speech, saying “he says a lot of things, frankly, that are not true and sometimes potentially dangerous.” Both networks monitored the speech and discussed what Trump said, which included calling the federal case “the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country” and attacking President Biden as “the president who together with a band of his closest thugs, misfits and Marxists, tried to destroy American democracy.”

Fox News Channel and Newsmax carried Trump’s speech live, with Fox News even taking a shot at CNN and MSNBC in an on-air graphic: “TRUMP’S REMARKS IGNORED BY OTHER NETWORKS.”

Fox News also drew attention for another graphic Tuesday night, when the network aired side-by-side live pictures of Trump’s event in New Jersey and President Biden speaking at a Juneteenth celebration. “Wannabe dictator speaks at White House after having his political rival arrested” the graphic read.

Conservatives were also outraged Tuesday night by a graphic on PBS
PBS
, which carried a “context” graphic over Trump’s speech that said “experts warn that inflammatory rhetoric from elected officials or people in power can prompt individual actors to commit acts of violence.” The message led people like Charlie Kirk to demand that the government “defund PBS.”