ABC and NBC Sideline Trump’s Election-Security Speech to Streaming, Refusing to Amplify Disinformation
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ABC News Live and NBC News Now will only stream President Donald Trump’s primetime address on July 16, as the broadcast networks hesitate to give a platform to his ongoing election denialism.
In a move reflecting growing media responsibility, ABC News and NBC News announced Thursday that they will confine President Donald Trump’s primetime address to their digital platforms—ABC News Live and NBC News Now—rather than broadcasting it on their main channels. NBC stated it will follow the speech with a special report on its main network, while ABC indicated it will monitor the address and may interrupt programming for a report if necessary. CBS News has not yet revealed its coverage plans, and the three major cable news outlets have also not confirmed how they will handle the hour-long program.
Trump is expected to focus on so-called 'election security,' once again invoking debunked claims of foreign interference and promoting the SAVE America Act, a restrictive voting-law proposal that would further disenfranchise marginalized communities by requiring additional identification for voter registration. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the speech would address election integrity and be 'supported by facts,' despite the administration’s long record of spreading misinformation.
The networks’ decision comes amid ongoing debate about how to handle Trump’s persistent and dangerous falsehoods regarding the 2020 election, a narrative thoroughly rejected by courts and directly linked to the violent January 6 Capitol insurrection. Lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have condemned Trump’s obsession with this conspiracy theory, warning that giving it airtime only perpetuates threats to democracy.