MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace wouldn’t air Trump’s remarks on immigration from the White House until she preemptively fact-checked them.
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Wallace explained on her show Deadline: White House, “Donald Trump is making remarks in the Roosevelt room this hour. Five days before the midterm elections and a day after admitting to ABC news that he tells the truth only when he can. Today’s remarks come after weeks of engaging in a deliberate strategy of stoking fear about the humanitarian crisis in Central America. A slow-moving caravan of asylum seekers and migrants. They also come after — come days after a war of words with house speaker Paul Ryan about birthright citizenship. Donald Trump’s divisive speech has been cited as contributing to the climate in which the synagogue shooter targeted Jewish Americans and the pipe bomber targeted trump’s critics. Because he’s used immigration in blatantly political ways and in an abundance of caution, we’ve decided to monitor those remarks, fact-check them against his rhetoric and record on immigration and bring you the important news from them.”
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Nicolle Wallace won't air Trump immigration remarks live, "Because he's used immigration in blatantly political ways and in an abundance of caution, we've decided to monitor those remarks, fact-check them and bring you the important news from them." https://t.co/vAXnf0OBrw pic.twitter.com/kxtB8UxOWx
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) November 1, 2018
Trump’s language has been dangerous and inspiring violence. While CNN is carrying Trump live and un-fact-checked, Nicolle Wallace and MSNBC are refusing to do. It is best for public safety that news networks not allow Trump’s words on immigration to spew into the air unchallenged by facts. It is possible to cover the news, and that includes the current President Of The United States, without giving him an unfettered national platform to use as a weapon to divide the country with lies, bigotry, and disinformation.
MSNBC is not ignoring the news, but they are treating Trump as someone whose words pose a threat to the country. Trump isn’t Bin Laden, but news networks handled Bin Laden tapes the same way.
After 11 innocent Jews died in Pittsburgh and 15 pipe bombs were mailed to Trump critics, the president has shown the power of his language to inspire violence. It is in the public interest for the press to act as a check on his rhetoric.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
