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Democratic strategist James Carville blasted major television networks Friday for declining to carry President Donald Trump’s election integrity speech in full, arguing Americans should have been allowed to watch what he described as the president’s increasingly erratic behavior.
“I would advise them to attack CNN, attack ABC, attack NBC… because they didn’t air the speech,” Carville told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer when asked how Democrats should respond to Trump’s primetime address.
“I think the president of the United States acting loonier than a tune is newsworthy.”
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Carville argued the networks missed an opportunity to let voters judge Trump’s remarks for themselves, contending that watching the address in its entirety would have reinforced concerns about the president’s conduct rather than helped his political standing.
Blitzer responded by pressing Carville on that note, asking him to confirm his suggestion.
“You think we should have given him more publicity, is that what you’re saying?” he asked.
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“Absolutely saying that,” Carville responded.
“I’m absolutely saying that I think the decision not to air that speech by CNN and other networks is not being what’s really newsworthy…”
He went on to argue, citing reports he said he read in The Daily Beast and Politico, that Trump ignored advice from his own staff to avoid acting “crazy.”
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“Of course, he didn’t take that advice for sure,” he said.
“But this is very newsworthy, I think, and I think the more people see this, the more they’ll understand that.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Carville’s remarks came on the heels of Trump’s Thursday night primetime address, during which the president renewed his focus on election integrity and alleged that China “worked to influence the results” of the 2020 presidential election, an accusation Beijing has denied.
Trump did not claim China changed votes or altered election results. Instead, he argued Beijing engaged in an influence campaign aimed at shaping U.S. public perceptions.
Trump used the disclosures during Thursday’s address to press Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, casting the newly released intelligence as evidence that lawmakers must tighten federal election rules before the midterms.
The act passed the House in February but stalled in the Senate in March, when a 53–47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance it.
CBS News aired a special report that initially provided analysis before dipping into the speech minutes after Trump began speaking and cut away moments after Trump’s attacks towards ABC and NBC. MS NOW carried the first 15 minutes of his speech live before dipping out to provide commentary. Fox News carried the speech in its entirety.
Fox News’ Greg Norman-Diamond, Joseph Wulfsohn and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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