News outlets diverge over airing Trump’s CPAC speech

CNN and MSNBC did not air former President Trump’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Sunday, while Fox News and other outlets favored by conservatives carried his remarks live.

Fox News began airing Trump’s speech after the former president took to the stage at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday. CNN continued with coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, while MSNBC continued to air its “PoliticsNation” program, though it aired a short clip from the speech.

A spokesperson for MSNBC declined to comment on the decision to not air Trump’s speech, while CNN did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump was the last scheduled speaker at CPAC. During his first major post-presidency address, he attacked the Biden administration, the media and immigrants, in many ways echoing the first campaign speech he made when announcing his 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump’s relationship with the media has largely been combative, with the former president sometimes even attacking outlets that were sympathetic to him. He attacked Fox News over its polling and after the outlet declared President Biden the winner of Arizona in the 2020 election.

During his speech, Trump also attacked the changes the Biden administration made after assuming office, many of which reversed the actions of the Trump administration, including ending the transgender military ban, rejoining the Paris climate agreement and reversing Trump’s visa ban on legal immigration.

He also repeated numerous false claims about voter fraud and the results of the 2020 election.

Trump revealed in his speech that he would not be starting a new political party, ending speculation that he was doing so.

Updated on Monday at 12:01 p.m.