In a live address to the nation, President Donald Trump presented alleged intelligence showing Chinese interference in the 2020 presidential election, according to Reuters. The claims contradict the US intelligence community's assessment that China did not interfere. CBS cut off the broadcast mid-speech, while NBC and ABC declined to air it entirely.
President Donald Trump delivered a live address to the nation overnight, presenting alleged intelligence that China interfered in the 2020 presidential election, according to Reuters. The claims stand in stark contrast to the US intelligence community's assessment that China did not interfere. Major US networks responded differently: CBS cut off the broadcast mid-speech, while NBC and ABC chose not to air it at all, instead streaming online.
The speech continued a series of accusations from Trump. As The Zioneer reported earlier Friday, Trump had announced he would declassify intelligence on foreign election interference (04:16 Jerusalem). During the address, he accused China of conducting the largest data breach in US election history (04:46) and announced the arrest of a foreign opposition cell (04:28). The new allegations come amid a broader pattern of Trump claiming foreign interference, including Iran, as previously reported.
The decision by the major networks to limit or cut coverage of a presidential address is unusual and has drawn attention. The White House has not commented on the network decisions.
2 developments
- StrongCBS: Trump to reveal Chinese interference in voter databases, CIA knew
- DevelopingNBC, ABC to stream Trump speech online, skip TV broadcast
- StrongTrump says he declassified intelligence documents on foreign election interference
- StrongTrump walks out of NBC News interview after dispute over 2020 election claims
Source and signal
- Open-source intake