Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at a pair of cable networks not named Fox News for their decision not to air all of his Iowa caucuses victory speech as it happened, suggesting that what they did was so heinous that they should “have their licenses, or whatever they have, taken away.”
The quadruply indicted GOP candidate mentioned the issue while addressing supporters in New Hampshire, which holds its primary in a week. It’s not the first time the former president threatened retaliation against news agencies whose reporting he’s taken issue with.
“Last night, it was amazing. NBC and CNN refused to air my victory speech—think of it— because they are crooked, they’re dishonest and, frankly, they should have their licenses or whatever they have taken away.”
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Trump made similar comments several times as president—and none of them amounted to much. Last fall, he also demanded a “treason” investigation into Comcast, NBC News’ parent company.
“They put on Nikki Haley—she came in third, a distant third,” Trump continued, “and they put on Ron [DeSantis], who came in a boring second.”
Despite Trump’s insistence that both networks “refused to air” his speech, both networks did air portions of it. CNN showed approximately the first nine minutes of his 22-minute speech until cutting away. The network would go on air all of DeSantis’ less-than-four-minute speech, and then the first 11 minutes of Haley’s remarks before dipping back out.
NBC News, meanwhile, broadcasted Trump’s opening five minutes behind the podium and then returned a few minutes later for another five minutes. The network didn’t air all of DeSantis’ speech, and only a few minutes of Haley’s.
Fox News, on the other hand, aired Trump’s speech from beginning to end. It did the same with DeSantis, but cut away from Haley’s.
Trump’s history of making false claims in front of cameras—like on Election Night in 2020—has led some cable networks to show more discretion. MSNBC, for instance, declined to air his remarks to reporters after he was arrested in New York last April, with anchor Rachel Maddow explaining then that there is “a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things.” The network followed suit Monday night.
