Major Networks Snub Trump, Decline To Air His Slides During Primetime Address

The major broadcast and cable news networks are facing criticism for refusing to display White House-produced charts displaying economic data during President Trump’s primetime address. During his primetime speech Wednesday night — which was aired by NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MS NOW, and Fox News, among other networks — Mr. Trump sought to tout his economic achievements. To help make his case to the American people, the president’s team created slides to highlight the data he was speaking about. Most networks declined to show the graphics. A media reporter with CNN, Brian Stelter, reported that Mr. Trump’s communications team “encouraged” the networks to display the slides on the screen while the president spoke.However, NBC News, CBS News, and ABC News all declined to show the slides. CNN also did not display the slides.Fox News was the outlier among major outlets, displaying some but not all of the slides. The network also displayed a label that said the slides were a “White House graphic,” to let viewers know that they came from the White House and not the network. The Fox News Channel aired some of the charts prepared by the White House. Fox News MediaMr. Stelter wrote that network executives told him on the condition of anonymity that they decided not to show the graphics because they “did not come with clear sourcing information.”A White House official told the Sun about the networks’ refusal to air the graphics, “The major network showed the graphics, and their ratings crush all of the other networks’ ratings combined.”The decision not to show the graphics led some users on X to criticize the networks.“Once again proving that MSM has lost [its] way entirely, and clap each other on the back for actually practicing the censorship that they rail about. Pathetic,” one user wrote.Another said, “God forbid they do some journalism and try to verify the sources and/or numbers themselves. I mean they never took the Biden Admin’s claims, like ‘transitory inflation’ or ‘cheap fakes,’ and merely repeat them ad nauseam.”“That’s why networks and CNN are on life support. They will do anything to discredit him,” another user wrote. The graphics and the content of the speech have been criticized by left-wing journalists who sought to fact-check the data shared by Mr. Trump.At one point during the speech, the White House’s graphic seemed to debunk his assertion about gas prices. “Gasoline is now under $2.50 a gallon in much of the country, and in some states it just hit $1.99 a gallon,” Mr. Trump said. As he spoke, the White House’s graphic showed that the national average for a gallon of gas is over $3. AAA’s data indicates that only four states have average prices below $2.50At least one portion of Mr. Trump’s speech was deemed somewhat correct by the New York Times, which was his comment that the price of eggs “is down 82 percent since March.” In February, the wholesale price for a dozen eggs was more than $8. It has since fallen to $1.45 as of last week. The retail price for eggs dropped about 44 percent between March and September.A White House economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, appeared on MS NOW Thursday morning and was asked why Mr. Trump feels “the need to constantly exaggerate” about the economy.Mr. Hassett said he would have to “look at the specific language” in Mr. Trump’s speech. But he said the president “spent a lot of time with our team preparing slides that showed the data for what he was talking about in the speech.”

Major Networks Snub Trump, Decline To Air His Slides During Primetime Address

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