President Donald Trump’s hyped-up plans to address the nation Thursday night might have hit a major roadblock as it remains unclear whether any major television network will actually air him, the Daily Beast is reporting.
Major broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC—along with cable outlets including Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC have remained silent on whether they intend to preempt regular programming to carry the speech, the Daily Beast reported Thursday morning.
As of Tuesday evening, the Thursday 9 p.m. time slot across networks continued to display “their standard scheduled content,” with no indication that coverage would be interrupted for the presidential address.
According to the report, the unusual situation raises questions about White House protocol.
Typically, when presidents plan prime-time addresses on “matters of significant national importance,” the administration formally requests that networks abandon their regular broadcasts. Such events are conventionally reserved for emergencies or major policy announcements warranting immediate national attention.
It remains murky whether the White House has actually submitted such a request to the networks. Multiple inquiries to the White House from media outlets have gone unanswered, and networks similarly declined to confirm their plans.
Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta has called on networks not air the president’s speech, the Daily Beast report notes.
“In dictatorships, the state media have to go along with the government, and they have to air these crazy lies to the public to brainwash people,” he reportedly said.
“The networks have a choice in the country, and they should absolutely, positively not air this madman on Thursday night.”
The president posted on Truth Social that he would deliver remarks at 9 p.m. Thursday, offering no initial explanation for the broadcast. Subsequent reporting indicated he planned to discuss voting machine security and reveal declassified intelligence allegedly documenting foreign interference in the 2020 election.