Trump: NBC, CNN should have ‘licenses or whatever’ pulled for not airing Iowa speech

Former President Trump says NBC and CNN should be taken off the air for their decision to not air in full the speech he gave in Iowa following his win in Monday’s caucuses.

“We were talking about her show and how corrupt the press is, and last night it was amazing,” Trump said during separate remarks to a crowd in New Hampshire on Tuesday night. “NBC and CNN refused to air my victory speech. Think of it — because they are crooked. They’re dishonest, and frankly, they should have their licenses or whatever they have: Take it away.”

MSNBC did not show any of Trump’s speech, something that has become a regular practice for the network since his presidency ended three years ago.

“There is a reason that we and other news organizations have generally stopped giving an unfiltered live platform to remarks by former President Trump,” said Rachel Maddow, a leading pundit, on its air Monday night as he was speaking. “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.”

Calling it “not an easy decision,” Maddow continued: “There is a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things. And that is a fundamental truth of our business and who we are.”

CNN meanwhile aired some of Trump’s remarks, before cutting away when he began using what anchor Jake Tapper called “anti-immigrant rhetoric.”

Fox News carried Trump’s remarks, as did a number of other media outlets.

The former president has attacked MSNBC in the past, pledging late last year to investigate Comcast, its parent company, and suggesting it is guilty of treason.

Trump has for years complained about the coverage of him on CNN, labeling the network “fake news.”