CNN uses new chyron to fact-check Trump’s convention speech

CNN debuted new chyrons Thursday night to fact-check President Trump’s Republican National Convention speech as it occurred, ramping up the news outlet’s efforts to catalog the president’s mistruths.

The new chyrons come as news networks face criticism for airing events featuring the president, including campaign events and press conferences, without adding live fact-checking.

Networks have at times broken away from such speeches to allow anchors to remark on Trump’s falsehoods, and CNN’s chyrons allowed for fact-checking without interrupting Trump’s remarks.

One fact-checked Trump’s remark that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s coronavirus plan “is not a solution to the virus, but rather it’s a surrender to the virus,” noting that Biden “Said He Would Shut Down U.S. If Scientists Recommended It.” 

CNN also wrote that Trump “Downplayed COVID-19 for Months at the Start of the Crisis” as the president touted his administration’s response to the pandemic. 

CNN has just switched its chyron from “Republication National Convention” to this: pic.twitter.com/HeuS6vhL4q

— Vicky Ward (@VickyPJWard) August 28, 2020

It is unclear if the new effort will placate critics, who have said that free media attention in the 2016 race helped Trump gain momentum when he otherwise may not have and that news outlets are making the same mistake during his speeches this cycle. 

CNN and Trump have had a particularly acrimonious relationship, with the president repeatedly accusing the network of spreading “fake news” over coverage he deemed critical of his administration.