Four major US networks band together to reject Trump ad that brands them ‘fake news’ media
NBC, ABC and CBS have joined CNN in rejecting an ad praising the achievements of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, who had accused them of unfair coverage.
Dubbed ‘America is Winning,’ the advert, which was due to go out over the past week, trumpets the US President’s tax cuts, job creation, and the pushing through of the Keystone pipeline.
The narrator then says “You wouldn’t know it from watching the news,” and the faces of Andrea Mitchell of NBC, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, Scott Pelley of CBS and George Stephanopoulos of ABC appear on the screen with the caption “FAKE NEWS” running across their faces.
The 30-second spot, which was backed by a $1.5 million airtime buying budget, was paid for by the President’s supporters, and is his first official campaign video for re-election in 2020.
CNN was the first to reject the ad on May 2, saying that “the mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false.” It said it would be prepared to accept it if the graphic was removed, the same condition as that put forward by NBC on Friday.
ABC said that the ad was a “personal attack” that “did not meet guidelines” and said that it had “previously accepted Trump ads and are open to doing so in the future."
CBS has not released a public comment. Fox News and Fox Business Network, which have broadly supported Trump, have aired the advert.
“Apparently, the mainstream media are champions of the First Amendment only when it serves their own political views. Faced with an ad that doesn't fit their biased narrative, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC have now all chosen to block our ad. This is an unprecedented act of censorship in America that should concern every freedom-loving citizen,"said Lara Trump, the President’s daughter-in-law and councilor wrote in a statement.
Mainstream (FAKE) media refuses to state our long list of achievements, including 28 legislative signings, strong borders & great optimism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 29 April 2017
The Fake News media is officially out of control. They will do or say anything in order to get attention - never been a time like this!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 4 May 2017
Trump himself has not commented on the ad, but his recent tweets have included “Mainstream (FAKE) media refuses to state our long list of achievements, including 28 legislative signings, strong borders & great optimism!” on April 29, and “The Fake News media is officially out of control. They will do or say anything in order to get attention – never been a time like this!” on May 4.
