In Prime Time, President Trump Criticizes Networks for Not Carrying His Speech

Not every television network carried President Trump’s prime-time speech from the White House, and it did not escape the president’s notice. In a meta moment, President Trump used his address to call out ABC and NBC for not airing his live remarks, claiming the networks declined to do so “because they know how corrupt our system is and they don’t want to reveal it.” He also repeated his frequent demand that the networks’ government-issued broadcast licenses be revoked. “They and others in the media are part of a plot,” the president said, offering no evidence for his claims. In fact, ABC and NBC did carry Trump’s speech live on their streaming platforms. After the president concluded, both networks broke into regularly scheduled entertainment programming to air special reports that analyzed his outlandish claims about the safety of American voting systems. Presidents must request airtime from television channels when they wish to speak in prime time, and in the past, network executives have been loath to accommodate speeches that they view as distinctly political in nature, especially during election years. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr. both had some requests denied.