ABC News, NBC News and CNN avoided airing President Donald Trump's primetime speech live on Thursday that addressed election security and apparent vulnerabilities during the 2020 election.Trump alleged that "vital information" about the 2020 election had been "covered up and hidden" from the American people.He accused China of meddling in the 2020 election, claiming newly declassified documents include CIA reporting alleging the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sought to prevent his reelection, as well as intelligence from the FBI claiming China attempted to manufacture illegal ballots for Joe Biden in that election.Leading up to the primetime address, the five liberal networks developed their own plans on how to handle Trump's remarks.TRUMP RELEASES DECLASSIFIED ELECTION INTELLIGENCE, SAYS IT REVEALS 'SHOCKING VULNERABILITIES'ABC, NBC and CNN chose not to air President Donald Trump's primetime address on election security live on their airwaves.
(Saul Loeb/Pool via Getty Images)A CNN spokesperson earlier told Fox News Digital it planned to cover Trump's speech "as a news event, and monitor it for news developments" and provide on-air analysis and commentary.The network made the speech available on its website and on its streaming platform.CNN anchor John King explained to viewers the network's decision, saying it's "because this president, sadly, has a history of misleading, and in some cases, simply false statements" on elections and election security, adding that CNN wanted to independently verify newly declassified documents released by the Trump administration.PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ADDRESSES THE NATION ON ELECTION INTEGRITY IN PRIMETIME WHITE HOUSE SPEECHABC News carried Trump's speech on its streaming platform and ABC News Radio.
A spokesperson for the network previously told Fox News Digital that regular ABC newscasts will cover the speech.NBC News similarly carried the address on its streaming platform and later aired a special report on the broadcast netw...