The Washington Post reported on Friday that President Joe Biden‘s statements from last Thursday were rejected by ABC, CBS, and NBC because they were thought to be too “political.”
The Post also said that networks that showed repeats and a game show were turned off by Biden’s criticism of former President Donald Trump after watching the speech in advance.
According to those involved in talks over Thursday’s address, the networks determined that Biden’s statements were “political” in character and decided not to air them. This information was provided by people close to the White House and the big three broadcast TV networks. These individuals, who wished to remain anonymous in order to share private conversations, cited the speech’s criticism of Trump, who may run for president of the United States of America in 2024, and its timing two months before the midterm elections.
According to one White House official who spoke to NBC News, the address was “not a lecture about a particular candidate or even about a particular political party,” Farhi stated.
Trump and “MAGA Republicans,” according to Biden’s statements, pose a danger to the nation’s stability.
Biden claimed that “MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution.” They reject the concept of the rule of law. The people’s will is ignored by them. The outcomes of a fair election are not acceptable to them. And they’re currently working in state after state, as I speak, to give partisans and cronies the authority to decide elections in America, allowing election deniers to destroy democracy itself.
Networks reportedly had access to the speech in advance but decided not to carry it. The roughly 30-minute address was broadcast in its entirety only on CNN and MSNBC. Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News declined to run it.
Press Your Luck was broadcast on ABC, Young Sheldon was repeated on CBS, and Law and Order was repeated on NBC.
Farhi pointed out that declining to carry primetime presidential speeches by broadcast networks is not unheard of: “[The networks] have passed on speeches that were part of campaign rallies or events, or when the subject was deemed insufficiently relevant or interesting. For instance, in November 2014, the networks chose not to air a speech on immigration reform by President Barack Obama.
