US TV networks face dilemma over whether to air Trump’s election security speech

NEW YORK - US television networks are weighing whether to carry a planned primetime address on July 16 by President Donald Trump, who is expected to focus his remarks on election security, four months before critical midterm elections.

Networks have historically carried most such speeches on the grounds that they provide information of public importance.

The White House is considering using the speech to disclose sensitive intelligence related to China’s intention or ability to interfere in the 2020 US election, Reuters reported on July 15, which some Trump officials worry could be misleading.

Trump has spent years sowing doubts about electoral outcomes, falsely claiming his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden was rigged.

He has also claimed without evidence that mail-in voting is rife with fraud, voting machines are vulnerable to manipulation and non-citizen voting is widespread.

Some Democrats, including US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have urged networks not to air the speech, arguing Trump is likely to repeat debunked claims.

Spokespeople for the three major US networks - ABC, CBS and NBC - did not respond to Reuters questions about whether they planned to carry the address live.

CNN and Fox News also did not respond to a request for comment.

Declining to air the speech would risk angering an administration that has already placed unprecedented pressure on the major broadcast networks.

Walt Disney-owned ABC is facing two pending inquiries from the Federal Communications Commission, including one examining whether its daytime talk show The View violated equal-time rules by interviewing a Democratic Senate candidate in Texas.

Trump has repeatedly attacked NBC and its parent company, Comcast, which he has dubbed “Concast”. In June, he stormed out of an interview with NBC political reporter Kristen Welker after calling the network “a one-sided crooked network.”

Comcast in June announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies through a spinoff of NBCUniversal and Sky. Analysts have said the move could make NBCUniversal an attractive takeover target.

At CBS, the takeover of Paramount by David Ellison, whose billionaire father Larry is a Trump ally, has roiled the newsroom and prompted the departure of senior staff from the news magazine 60 Minutes. Some employees have alleged political interference in editorial decisions, which the network has denied.

Ellison is now awaiting FCC approval for Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which could give him control of CNN, a network Trump has long criticised for what he says is unfair coverage. The US Justice Department's Antitrust Division gave its blessing to the deal in June.

The conservative-leaning cable news network Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch, generally carries all of Trump’s speeches but may also be wary of this one.

In 2023, the network had to pay out US$787 million to settle a defamation suit over its airing of false claims about the 2020 election. REUTERS