CNN’s parent company refused to broadcast two ads from President Trump’s reelection campaign that claimed election fraud occurred.
AT&T’s WarnerMedia made the decision when it couldn’t substantiate the claims, according to a Bloomberg source familiar with the matter.
The advertisements were set to air “on national cable television” beginning Dec. 12, the campaign said on Friday. The titles were “The Evidence is Overwhelming — FRAUD!” and “STOP THE STEAL!”
In a statement that claimed Trump won reelection against President-elect Joe Biden “by a landslide,” the campaign said the ads would “inform viewers of the widespread corruption that occurred in the 2020 election,” citing “suitcases of Biden ballots,” “dead people voting,” and “money-for-vote schemes,” among other examples.
In a nod to Trump’s concerted push to sway electors to cast their final ballots for him, thus delivering him reelection, the spots further advised “voters to call their legislators to demand a free and fair election.”
Ad-tracking firm AdImpact told Bloomberg it had no data showing that the ads had aired on any major cable television networks. However, the company does not track networks such as Newsmax, which carried one spot during a live digital broadcast, or One America News Network, a network popular with Trump.
Trump’s attacks on the media have often targeted CNN, with the president once suggesting a boycott of parent company AT&T, one of several boycotts that he has proposed while in office.
