Maddow says MSNBC ‘irresponsible’ to broadcast Trump victory speech

MSNBC pundit Rachel Maddow said it is “irresponsible” of news organizations to carry former President Trump’s remarks when they know he is going to make false statements.

As the network cut away from Trump’s Super Tuesday victory speech, Maddow said whether to provide live continuous coverage of the former president’s public remarks “is a decision that we revisit constantly.”

The balance, she said, is “between allowing somebody to knowingly lie on your air about things they’ve lied about before — and you can predict they are going to lie about.”

“And so, therefore, it is just irresponsible to allow them to do that,” she continued in comments first highlighted by Mediaite.

Trump, Maddow noted, “the de facto, soon to be de facto nominee of the Republican Party, this is not only the man who is likely to be the Republican candidate for president, but this is the way he’s running.”

Anchor Stephanie Rhule interjected saying, “Well, here’s how we balance it. Why don’t we fact-check the hell out of him?”

“Yes, and we do that after the fact, and that is the best remedy that we’ve got,” Maddow replied. “It does not fix the fact that we broadcast it, honestly.”

MSNBC has made a somewhat regular practice of cutting away from Trump’s live remarks. Other news networks have carried his remarks in full while some have cut away to fact-check the former president and dipped back into his speeches.

President Biden’s campaign has reportedly urged news organizations and surrogates for the president to do more to highlight the often outlandish, offensive or false things Trump says in public.