Two of the three major US television networks and CNN did not carry President Donald Trump’s address live on their main channels on Thursday night, drawing an angry reaction from Trump. In the address, delivered four months before the midterm elections, he spoke mainly about election-related security. Trump, who has put unprecedented pressure on the US media, accused the networks that did not air his speech live of taking part in a “conspiracy” and said their broadcast licences should be revoked. “NBC and ABC — these two fake-news outlets announced they would not broadcast this speech of mine, which is a rare event,” he said, adding that “their broadcast licences should be revoked as punishment for such deceit.” But experts say that under the First Amendment of the US constitution, networks are free to decide what they broadcast, though in the past most broadcasters have aired such addresses live in the public interest.
An ABC News spokesperson said the speech would be shown on the ABC News Live streaming platform and ABC News Radio rather than the main channel; a person familiar with the matter said NBC News aired it on its free streaming service NBC News Now rather than the main channel, though the company declined to comment officially. CNN said it would monitor the address for important news and carry live video on its website and its subscription streaming service CNN All Access. Streaming platforms for ABC, NBC and CNN generally draw far fewer viewers than their main channels.
During the address Trump released some intelligence documents that he claimed were evidence of Chinese interference in US elections, reviving his long-standing complaints about election security, though US intelligence assessments have found no evidence that China changed the outcome of the 2020 election. Before the speech, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump might begin by discussing the situation in Iran and the US economy, among other topics, and that the networks should have aired it live so Americans could watch. Trump has for years cast doubt on US election results, claiming without evidence that fraud caused his 2020 defeat by Democrat Joe Biden and alleging widespread postal-vote fraud, tampering of voting machines and mass voting by non-citizens, none of which he has substantiated. Several Democratic leaders had urged networks not to air the speech live, arguing Trump might repeat already-debunked claims. CBS interrupted its regular programming to carry the address live, but presenter Tony Dokoupil said before it began, “To be honest, much of what the president has said on this is not accurate,” adding, “Still, we are showing it live, because it is news and broadcasting news is our duty” — and about 15 minutes in, CBS paused to fact-check and rebut Trump’s election-fraud claims. Fox News aired the speech live, as did several local broadcasters affiliated with Fox stations, including in New York.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report