CBS News wants to take a “middle ground” approach on airing President Donald Trump’s national address Thursday night as network chiefs wrestle over whether to carry it live, according to a new report.
CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter gave his predictions on what TV networks will do when the cameras start rolling on Trump in the East Room of the White House at 9 p.m. ET.
The issue that networks are grappling with is whether they will be doing their viewers a disservice by airing a speech that could be filled with falsehoods about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump. The White House has been tight-lipped about what Trump will cover in his speech months away from the midterms, but the president did give a hint: “Free and fair elections.”
Stelter said in his Reliable Sources newsletter Thursday that he has been told CBS may take a “middle-ground” approach by quickly editing clips of Trump’s address to air shortly after, rather than playing the whole speech live.
The network’s controversial evening news host, Tony Dokoupil, would host a special report later in the 9 p.m. hour, fact-checking Trump’s claims.
Other broadcasters are also reportedly considering tape-turning clips rather than airing the full speech live.
CBS would still show the full speech live on its streaming news channel and on social media, Stelter noted.
“That way, the broadcaster would be acknowledging that the White House claims Trump is making a major address, while still exercising some editorial judgment,” the media guru wrote.
The Independent has reached out to CBS for comment.
Trump, who continues to baselessly claim Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election through widespread vote fraud, has been strongly pushing for Congress to pass the “SAVE America Act.” The bill would require voters in federal elections to show photo ID at the polls and proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Networks now have a tough choice about whether to air a national address that could sow doubts about this year’s elections, while feeling pressure from the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on networks not to air “lies about our election.”
“I think that we have an ethical obligation to not air things that undermine our election that are not rooted in evidence and fact,” she told reporters.
When asked whether networks should air Trump’s speech, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who has been accused of trying to meddle in broadcasters’ decision-making, said: “Of course.”
“Any time the president of the United States stands up there in primetime to deliver information or news or content, I think broadcasters should want to make sure the American public can see that,” Carr told NewsNation.
CBS News has been accused of catering to the Trump administration at the expense of journalistic integrity.
Bari Weiss was appointed as the network’s editor-in-chief last October after billionaire David Ellison, who has reported ties to Trump, took over CBS’s parent company, Paramount.
Early in her tenure, Weiss decided to pull a 60 Minutes segment about Venezuelan migrants sent by the Trump administration to CECOT, an El Salvadoran prison accused of having inhumane conditions. The segment aired nearly one month later.
“Network executives are now deciding what belongs on their air while knowing Trump is watching — and keeping score,” Stelter wrote in his newsletter.
“At the same time, most Americans disapprove of Trump, don’t believe his election lies, and might resent networks that give him a prime-time platform for those lies. They’re keeping score, too.”
As of Monday, 40.3 percent of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, and 57.6 percent disapprove, according to YouGov’s poll tracker.
