Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sharply criticized ABC and NBC on Friday for declining to broadcast President Donald Trump's election-security address on their respective networks. Mullin accused the major broadcast networks of "shameful" actions and suggested they were attempting to "cover up" information by not airing the speech.
"Why wouldn’t they want to inform the American people? Why are they calling themselves a news outlet if they’re not actually trying to put the news out there?" Mullin stated, questioning the networks' decision to bypass the primetime address.
While ABC and NBC streamed the speech online, they did not carry it on their main broadcast channels. CBS aired portions of Trump's remarks before cutting away, and Fox News provided full live coverage of the address. CNN did not air the speech live.
Mullin contrasted the networks' current stance with their coverage of previous elections. "Because they sure covered the other part of it when they were saying that it was the most secure election ever," he said. "What facts did they have? Because they didn’t have facts. They were taking someone’s word for it. President Trump gave facts. Today we’re giving facts."
President Trump, who also criticized the networks' decisions, announced the release of previously classified intelligence. He stated this intelligence documented vulnerabilities in voting infrastructure and indicated foreign efforts to access American voter data. Trump also advocated for the passage of the SAVE America Act, which proposes federal voter identification and proof-of-citizenship requirements.
Trump suggested that networks refusing to air such content should face regulatory consequences, including potential revocation of their broadcast licenses, which he argued are granted for public airways valued in the billions of dollars. The Federal Communications Commission, however, licenses individual broadcast stations rather than national networks.