Some major TV networks showed President Donald Trump’s prime-time address live on Thursday night while others pointedly did not — a divide that highlighted Trump’s long record of lying and renewed discussion about the news media’s responsibilities.
The White House took the rare step of formally asking the broadcast networks to take the speech live, setting up Trump to castigate those that opted not to.
And Trump made network decision-making a talking point in his speech. He harshly criticized NBC and ABC for not preempting their prime-time shows for his address and said it “should mean a revocation of their licenses.”
The two other major US broadcast networks, CBS and Fox, did air the unusual prime-time address.
CBS surrounded the speech with fact-checking and context both before and immediately afterward, a practice sometimes called a “truth sandwich.”
Still, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner criticized CBS while appearing on the network to rebut Trump’s address. He told anchor Tony Dokoupil, “It’s incumbent on you and any responsible journalist to push back on these falsehoods.” Dokoupil pointed out that he had been doing exactly that.
Dokoupil said, “We agree, you and I, that this is a vitally, vitally important topic, and the president has a terrible track record on it.”
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