Politics

Trump Campaign Claims ‘Mainstream Media’ Blacks Out TV Ad

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump’s campaign claimed Friday that large media outlets are refusing to air a television campaign ad that touts accomplishments in his first 100 days and attacks various news outlets as “fake news.”

“Setting a chilling precedent against free speech rights, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. has just learned that now, all of the mainstream media television networks have decided to block the paid placement of a campaign ad that celebrates the achievements of President Trump in his first 100 days in office,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. “The ad was first released on Monday, May 1. Since then, one by one, the mainstream TV networks have blocked the ad from running, including CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC.”

CNN confirmed on Tuesday that it refused to run the ad due to the “fake news” graphic overlaid on broadcasters’ faces. “The mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false. Per our policy, it will be accepted only if that graphic is deleted,” CNN said in a statement.

An NBCUniversal spokesperson told The Daily Caller, “Consistent with our policies, we have agreed to accept the ad if the inaccurate graphic – which refers to journalists as ‘fake news’ – is corrected.”

ABC and CBS did not immediately respond to press inquires.

The Trump campaign used the president’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump as a surrogate on Fox News’ “Hannity” Thursday night. “Apparently, the mainstream media are champions of the First Amendment only when it serves their own political views. Faced with an ad that doesn’t fit their biased narrative, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC have now all chosen to block our ad. This is an unprecedented act of censorship in America that should concern every freedom-loving citizen,” Trump said.

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