Sinclair Chairman to Trump in 2016: ‘We Are Here to Deliver Your Message’

David Smith, chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, met with Donald Trump after he secured the GOP nomination in 2016 and told him, “We are here to deliver your message,” Smith told The Guardian in an interview. The meeting took place in Trump Tower and was reportedly secured by now-Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. “I asked [Trump], ‘Would you like us to embed with you during your campaign?’” Smith told the publication. Trump gave a non-response, he said. Smith claimed that his remark did not mean that Sinclair would be “acting as a mouthpiece for Trump,” but meant that “Trump could be interviewed by Sinclair whenever he chose,” the newspaper reported. Smith also met with officials at the White House to pitch a technology that would allow the government to “broadcast direct” to any smartphone, TV, or laptop. This comes as Sinclair has been under fire for its “must-run” segments at the local news stations it owns.