MSNBC and CNN censored Donald Trump’s victory speech Monday night after the former president secured a historic win in the Iowa Caucus.
MSNBC did not air the former president’s speech following his historic win Monday, with primetime host Rachel Maddow saying they “refuse to cover untrue things.” Trump received 51% of the vote, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 21.2% and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley at 19.1%.
“Of course, there is a reason that we and other news organizations have generally stopped giving an unfiltered live platform to remarks by former President Donald Trump. It is not out of spite, it is not a decision that we relish, it is a decision that we regularly revisit, and honestly, earnestly, it is not an easy decision, but there is a cost to us as a news organization in knowingly broadcasting untrue things,” Maddow said. “That is a fundamental truth of our business and who we are, and so his remarks tonight will not air here live, we will monitor them and let you know about any news that he makes.”
Over at CNN, anchor Jake Tapper interrupted the speech as the former president began talking about illegal immigrants flooding into the U.S. through the southern border. Tapper referred to Trump’s remarks against illegal immigration as “anti-immigrant rhetoric.”
“A relatively subdued speech as these things go so far, although there he goes. Under my voice, you hear him repeating his anti-immigrant rhetoric. He did take time to praise his rivals, Haley and DeSantis and Ramaswamy by name. Rather un-Trump-like to do that, gracious, but perhaps a sign of some message of discipline at least for one night.”
Trump warned of the “invasion” of the record-breaking number of illegal migrants coming across the border, which has soared throughout President Joe Biden’s administration. (RELATED: Trump Campaign Claims CNN ‘Censored’ Campaign Ad)
“We have to seal up the border,” Trump said in his speech. “Because right now we have an invasion. We have an invasion of millions and millions of people that are coming into our country. I can’t imagine why they think that’s a good thing, it’s a bad very thing. I think it’s a group of people that [are] probably larger in number than New York State and we can’t have that. We can’t have that, it’s not sustainable as a country, it’s horrible. And you know they’re coming from prisons and jails, they’re coming from all over, they’re coming from countries that most people have never heard of, and they’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums, they’re being emptied out into our country.”
“And they’re terrorists, many terrorists are coming in,” he continued.
Border officials apprehended over 2.4 million illegal immigrants in the 2023 fiscal year, and over 483,000 in the 2024 fiscal year thus far, according to Customs and Border Protection. The number in 2024 thus far is roughly the same amount of those apprehended in the entirety of the 2020 fiscal year, the last year of the Trump administration.
Trump leads the 2024 Republican primary race with 63%, while DeSantis and Haley are roughly tied at 11%, according to FiveThirtyEight.