Trump to deliver primetime speech with election security, midterm polls in focus; ABC, NBC will not broadcast the address - Here’s why

Trump's primetime speech: United States President Donald Trump is set to deliver a primetime speech focused on election security, bringing renewed attention to his long-running complaints about voting systems and election administration as Republicans face challenging midterm elections in November.

The White House ‌was deciding whether the President's remarks would include the disclosure of sensitive intelligence related to China's intention or ability to interfere in the 2020 US election, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing four sources. Some Trump officials worried the information could be misleading, sources said.

Trump has spent years raising doubts about electoral outcomes, falsely asserting that his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden was rigged. He has also advanced other false claims, including that mail-in balloting is rife with fraud, voting machines are vulnerable and non-citizen voting is widespread.

Numerous courts and vote recounts found no evidence of large-scale fraud in the 2020 election.

A White House task force led by ⁠conservative journalist John Solomon recently asked the intelligence community for documents outlining the information and has spent the past several weeks reviewing them ahead of Trump's speech, one source familiar with the group's work said.

The final draft of the speech was not ready as of midday on Thursday and remained subject to changes from the president, a person familiar with the plans said. Several senior White House officials were anxious about what the president would end up saying in his speech and how that could impact Republicans' chances in November's midterms, the source said.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to requests for comment on the Reuters report on Wednesday, and the CIA declined to comment.

ABC, NBC, CNN will not air Trump's election security speechTwo of the three major US television networks and CNN have decided not to broadcast a planned primetime address by Trump on their primary platforms, risking the ire of an administration that has placed unprecedented pressure on American media, Reuters reported.

The speech is expected to focus on election security, four ‌months before the critical midterm elections.

Late Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for ABC News said the network will run Trump’s speech on its ABC News Live streaming platform and ABC News Radio – not its broadcast channel, the report said.

NBC News plans to carry the president's remarks on its free streaming service, NBC News NOW, but will not air the speech on its main broadcast channel, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment.

In a statement, CNN said it will monitor the speech for news, with a live feed appearing on its website and CNN All Access, its subscription streaming channel.

The ABC and NBC streaming channels generally draw ⁠a fraction of the viewers that their traditional broadcast signals reach. CNN's digital network is a paid-for service with a smaller audience than its regular cable channel.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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