Nikki Haley defeated Donald Trump in the Washington DC primary today.
BREAKING
Nikki Haley wins the Republican primary in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/ONY1FE5dFx
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) March 4, 2024
In a recent appearance on Fox News’ MediaBuzz, Philippe Reines, a former official in Barack Obama’s White House, staunchly defended CNN’s decision to interrupt a speech by former President Donald Trump at the southern border. Reines, who served in the State Department during Obama’s presidency, shared his perspective with host Howard Kurtz, asserting that CNN’s action was justified given Trump’s alleged abuse of live television to disseminate false information.
Stressing the need for more instances of networks cutting away from Trump’s speeches, Reines stated, “The reason that the networks have to do this and they should do more of it, is because Trump is making it necessary. He is abusing live TV to tell lies.”
Contrary to accusations that CNN aimed to stifle Trump’s speech, Reines argued that if that were the network’s intent, they wouldn’t have aired the speech in the first place.
He provided historical context, pointing out that during Trump’s first term, networks refrained from using the term “lie” and were hesitant to challenge the President’s statements. Reines asserted that one of the lessons learned from that period was the importance of calling out falsehoods. He insisted that Trump’s behavior makes it impossible for networks not to take a stand against misinformation.
The discussion on MediaBuzz reflects the ongoing debate within the media landscape about how news outlets should handle live broadcasts, especially when there is a concern about the dissemination of misleading or false information by political figures.
“Let’s make this clear,” Reines said. “The reason that the networks have to do this and they should do more of it, is because Trump is making it necessary. He is abusing live TV to tell lies.”
Reines went on to reject the idea that CNN was out to stifle Trump — arguing if that was their intent, they wouldn’t have televised the speech at all.
“What Trump did for the first term is that he ran roughshod over the networks,” Reines said. “They never used the word lie. They were too afraid to do it. And one of the lessons from that first term was: Call it out. And he makes it impossible to not do that. If CNN didn’t want to give [the speech] an audience, they wouldn’t have cut to it.”
