Donald Trump has once again found himself extremely upset at the media — this time, at a couple of cable news networks that refused to air his full victory speech following the Iowa caucus.
He’s so aggrieved, in fact, that he demanded that the two networks that didn’t air the full speech, CNN and NBC, be stripped of their “licenses” to air coverage because they’re “crooked” and mean to him — not only putting his massive and undeserved ego on display but also making it crystal clear that he has not a single clue as to how cable news actually works.
The scandal-plagued ex-president secured a victory this week in the first GOP primary, Iowa’s caucus, and wasted no time in making his victory lap speech, complete with all his election denying, fake fraud, “deep state” greatest hits.
Both CNN and MSNBC did, in fact, air the beginning of Trump’s speech following his Iowa win. They just refused to keep it going while Donald spewed all of his trademark bull. CNN carried the speech for about 10 minutes before cutting it off and even Fox News couldn’t hang through the whole thing, airing it only a handful of minutes longer than CNN did.
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MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow even took a few moments to explain why they were cutting away from the former president’s victory speech:
There is a reason that we and other news organizations have generally stopped giving an unfiltered live platform to remarks by former President Trump.
It is not out of spite. It is not a decision that we relish. It is a decision that we regularly revisit. and honestly, earnestly.
It is not an easy decision, but there is a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things. And that is a fundamental truth of our business and who we are.”
It was both a reasonable and responsible decision for a network tasked with informing the American public with true and trustworthy information.
But Donald Trump couldn’t give a damn less.
At his New Hampshire rally the next night, the former president took aim at the networks that cut away from his big speech, telling the crowd, “We were talking about her show and how corrupt the press is, and last night it was amazing. NBC and CNN refused to air my victory speech. I think of it because they are crooked. They’re dishonest, and frankly, they should have their licenses or whatever they have. Take it away.”
For one, that is literally not how cable news networks work. They are not regulated by or beholden to the FCC, therefore they can’t have their licenses revoked in the manner he’s itching for.
Furthermore, we have a First Amendment to our Constitution that quite literally says Trump can’t strip journalistic networks of their livelihoods just because they hurt his feelings.
Clearly, the former president has a lackluster grasp on both of those concepts.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
