Trump against disobedient media: Take away their licenses

Two of the three major US television networks and CNN did not broadcast President Donald Trump's address in prime time on their main platforms on Thursday, drawing criticism from the president who has exerted unprecedented pressure on the American media.

The speech was dedicated to election security, four months before the crucial midterm elections.

During his address, Trump said that networks that did not broadcast his speech were involved in a "conspiracy" and should have their licenses revoked.

"In a rare move, fake news outlets NBC and ABC have decided not to broadcast this speech," he said, adding: "A scam like this should mean the revocation of their licenses."

Experts say television networks have broad rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to decide what to air. Yet broadcasters have traditionally aired most such speeches, arguing that they provide important information to the public, according to Reuters.

Late Thursday afternoon, an ABC News spokesperson said the network would air Trump's speech on its ABC News Live streaming platform and on ABC News Radio, but not on its main television channel.

NBC News carried the president's address on its free streaming service NBC News NOW, but not on the main television channel, according to a person familiar with the situation.

CNN said in a statement that it would cover the speech for reporting, with a live broadcast on its website and via CNN All Access, its subscription streaming channel.

ABC and NBC's streaming channels generally have a fraction of the viewership of traditional television channels. CNN's digital network is a paid service and has a smaller audience than its regular cable channel.

In the speech, Trump declassified intelligence he said showed Chinese interference in the US election, repeating his long-standing attacks on the security of the electoral process, despite the assessment by US intelligence agencies that there is no evidence that Beijing changed the results of the 2020 election, which Trump lost.

Before the speech, White House spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt told a press briefing that it was "very possible" that Trump would mention the situation with Iran and the economy at the beginning of his speech, and that he could talk about a variety of topics.

She said that was "all the more reason" for television networks to broadcast the speech live and for Americans to watch it.

Trump briefly mentioned the war between the US and Israel against Iran, which he said the US was winning, and that the US economy was in the best shape ever, but most of his address focused on his claims about election security.

Trump has been raising doubts about the election results for years, claiming that his defeat to Democratic nominee Joe Biden in 2020 was rigged. He has also claimed, without evidence, that mail-in voting is rigged, that voting machines are susceptible to manipulation, and that non-citizen voting is widespread.

Some Democrats, including US Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have called on television networks not to air the speech, arguing that Trump is likely to repeat already-disproven claims.

CBS interrupted its regular programming to air the president's speech, but before the broadcast, anchor Tony Dokupil offered a pre-recorded preview of what Trump is expected to say. "Frankly, a lot of what the president said on this subject is not true," he said, before adding that the reason the network is airing the speech live is because "it's going to be news and our job is to report news."

The network cut the broadcast after about 15 minutes to dispute Trump's claims of election fraud, Reuters reports.

Fox News broadcast Trump's speech live, and some local Fox affiliates picked up the cable network's programming, including one in New York.