President Donald Trump did not take kindly to some networks not airing his primetime address on election security live Thursday night.
Trump said CNN, ABC and NBC should have their broadcast licenses revoked for not airing the speech.
Trump alleged China illegally accessed millions of voter files as in order to to manipulate U.S. elections in 2018 and 2020.
Other media outlets such as CBS, MS NOW and Fox News broadcasted the speech at least in part.
NBC and ABC aired Trump’s remarks on their streaming channels.
Trump specifically called out NBC and ABC during his remarks. The president accused the networks of covering up what election fraud.
“In a rare move, NBC and ABC fake news have both said that they would not cover this speech. They knew what it was about,” he said. “Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses.”
Watch:
https://x.com/Acyn/status/2077929132508487794?s=20
TV networks have the discretion whether or not to air presidential remarks in primetime.
In the past, presidents used this time for major addresses for national crises or critical moments.
Many networks did not broadcast President Joe Biden’s address on threats to democracy in 2022.
Then, in 2024, ABC, CBS and NBC did not air President Barack primetime speech on immigration.
Trump has previously threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of TV networks when their news coverage was deemed unfavorable. He went after ABC after late night host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death.
In a social media post in December, Trump said networks who are “almost 100% negative” in their coverage should have their broadcast licenses “terminated.”
Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr has limited authority to unilaterally revoke the licenses of the broadcast networks.
These licences are protected both by the Communications Act’s restrictions on how the FCC reviews licenses and the First Amendment.