Major cable news networks did not air former President Donald Trump’s announcement of his 2024 presidential bid, while the few that did interrupted portions of it with several minutes of commentary.
ABC, NBC, CBS and MSNBC stuck to their regular 9:00 p.m. programming instead of airing any portion of Trump’s announcement. Fox News and CNN aired most of Trump’s speech, but interrupted several minutes of it to include commentary from the networks’ anchors and contributors.
The speech took up the first 25 minutes of Fox News’ “Hannity,” but then got interrupted when anchor Sean Hannity where contributors Joe Concha, Leo Terrell, Pete Hegseth and former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee commented on the event. Hegseth said Trump was “in as good a form as you have ever seen him,” and Huckabee praised the former president for saying this not his campaign, but “our campaign.”
“He was fighting for us and he made the comment this is not about critics or complainers. He is looking for it, I’m telling you this was an absolutely brilliant speech, the best I’ve heard him give in a long time…he’s unbeatable,” Huckabee said.
The commentary on Fox News lasted for approximately 12 minutes. The network switched back to Trump for the remainder of his speech.
CNN aired the speech for over 20 minutes before panning out of the event entirely. CNN anchor Dana Bash attempted to dispute Trump’s victory lap on the midterm elections after several of his endorsed candidates lost the election. (RELATED: Biden Responds To Trump Announcing His Presidential Run For 2024)
Commentators on the network, including former Trump officials Mick Mulvaney and Alyssa Farah Griffin, harshly criticized the former president’s speech.
Cable networks frequently received criticism for giving Trump prioritized airtime during his 2016 presidential campaign speeches and rallies. CNN President Chris Licht told employees that Trump’s airtime would “be made on a case-by-case basis.”
MSNBC aired its usual programming of the “Alex Wagner Show,” which included an interview with Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who recently won her reelection bid. ABC, CBS and NBC all had correspondents who attended the speech at Mar-a-Lago, though they did not dedicate any airtime to the announcement, The Washington Post reported.