By If there are two things liberals media outlets have shown ever since Donald Trump first appeared on the political scene, it’s that they don’t fully believe in free speech and will do whatever it takes to manipulate the election.
The reaction on CNN to Trump’s huge victory in Iowa on Monday evening showed exactly how the game will be played and how, in the complaint of Ron DeSantis, the media provides “air cover” to the former president.
On the one hand, Biden supporters celebrated the Republican winner last night, saying they’d been hoping Trump would win the primary.
CNN and Biden’s former Comms Director celebrate the Iowa results
They admit Biden wants Trump to be the Republican nominee pic.twitter.com/CzFCkKJOji
— John Hasson (@SonofHas) January 16, 2024
On the other hand, multiple networks, including CNN, refused to show much of Trump’s victory speech.
“MSNBC did not air the former president’s speech following his historic win Monday, with primetime host Rachel Maddow saying they “refuse to cover untrue things.” Trump received 51% of the vote, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 21.2% and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley at 19.1%,” writes The Daily Caller.
“‘Of course, there is a reason that we and other news organizations have generally stopped giving an unfiltered live platform to remarks by former President Donald Trump. It is not out of spite, it is not a decision that we relish, it is a decision that we regularly revisit, and honestly, earnestly, it is not an easy decision, but there is a cost to us as a news organization in knowingly broadcasting untrue things,’ Maddow said. ‘That is a fundamental truth of our business and who we are, and so his remarks tonight will not air here live, we will monitor them and let you know about any news that he makes.’”
WOW—Rachel Maddow admits on air that they’ve decided to censor the leading Republican candidate’s victory speech and will decide what they want the public to know later.
This why no one trusts the media—their tactics are exactly like 1984.
pic.twitter.com/A6XlHkOPSY— Te𝕏asLindsay™ (@TexasLindsay_) January 16, 2024
“Over at CNN,” The Daily Caller continued, “anchor Jake Tapper interrupted the speech as the former president began talking about illegal immigrants flooding into the U.S. through the southern border. Tapper referred to Trump’s remarks against illegal immigration as “anti-immigrant rhetoric.”
‘A relatively subdued speech as these things go so far, although there he goes. Under my voice, you hear him repeating his anti-immigrant rhetoric. He did take time to praise his rivals, Haley and DeSantis and Ramaswamy by name. Rather un-Trump-like to do that, gracious, but perhaps a sign of some message of discipline at least for one night.’”
CNN's Jake Tapper cuts away from former President Trump's Iowa victory speech immediately after he started talking about President Biden's border crisis.
"Here he is, right now, under my voice. You can hear him repeating his anti-immigrant rhetoric," he decried. pic.twitter.com/1FRLfyj62H— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 16, 2024
This is not the first time a major television network has tried to censor a Biden challenger under the guise of “fighting disinformation.” ABC News edited an interview with then-Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr to exclude Kennedy’s commentary on Covid-19 vaccines. At the time, Kennedy was polling in the double digits against Biden in the Democratic primary, but has since declared himself to be an independent.
Trump’s crime, according to Tapper and Maddow, was talking about the crisis occurring on the border, a major issue to Iowa voters.
“We’re going to seal up the border,” Trump said to a roaring crowd celebrating his caucus victory. “Because right now we have an invasion. An invasion of millions and millions of people that are coming into our country. I can’t imagine why they think that’s a good thing.”
The former president’s full speech can be viewed below:
The Daily Wire noted, “Much of Trump’s focus on the campaign trail has been aimed at the ongoing border crisis, which he says has only been exacerbated by President Joe Biden and his administration’s policies — an assertion that appears to have been borne out over and over again by month after month of record high border crossings.
According to the most recent data, more than 300,000 illegal immigrant encounters were recorded at the border in the month of December alone — the highest one-month total on record — and thousands more migrants were believed to have crossed without being spotted.
Despite attempts from Democrats and media to assert otherwise — claiming that he is anti-immigrant across the board — former President Trump has been clear that his criticism is directed at the porous southern border and those who cross it illegally rather than at those who choose to come to the United States through legal channels.”
This is not the first time that prominent liberals have supported censorship of conservatives. Early on in his tenure, Joe Biden attempted to launch a “Disinformation Board” to crack down on speech liberals declared false or a “conspiracy theory,” such as the lab leak theory of COVID-19’s origin.
The board was dubbed “the Ministry of Truth,” and soon sparked outcry from the public before being shut down by the White House.
Last July, a court ordered the White House to stop trying to censor online content that it did not approve.
Politico reported, ‘The judge’s decision cites a wide range of topics that he says ‘all were suppressed’ on social media at the urging of administration officials, including opposition to Covid vaccines, masking, lockdowns and the lab-leak theory; opposition to the validity of the 2020 election; opposition to President Joe Biden’s and other officials’ policies; and statements claiming that the story surrounding a laptop belonging to Biden’s son Hunter Biden was true.”
Each topic “suppressed’ was a conservative view, which “is quite telling,” the judge explained in his ruling.
“This targeted suppression of conservative ideas is a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech,” he continued. “American citizens have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country … the evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario.”
[Read More: Liberal Pentagon Officials Plan ‘Coup’ Against Trump]
