TRUMP, NATO, AND THE MEDIA. There’s an odd dynamic that plays out when former President Donald Trump gives a campaign speech. Many news organizations have imposed a virtual blackout on his appearances. As a rule, they don’t broadcast Trump’s speeches live and often never report on them at all, even if a particular speech is newsworthy. When Trump won the Iowa caucuses, for example, Fox News carried his victory speech live, while CNN cut away from the speech when Trump discussed immigration, labeling his remarks “anti-immigrant rhetoric” unfit for CNN viewers. MSNBC did not broadcast the speech at all. 

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who devoted hundreds of hours of coverage to the false Steele dossier, told viewers that out of a deep reverence for the truth, MSNBC will not broadcast Trump speeches live. “There is a cost to us, as a news organization, of knowingly broadcasting untrue things,” Maddow explained. “That is a fundamental truth of our business and who we are.”