CNN opted to air Donald Trump’s entire 20-minute victory speech following his victory on Super Tuesday, as the presidential candidate continues to charge towards a rematch of the Biden election.
Trump soared past Nikki Haley, taking victories in Maine, Oklahoma, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Minnesota and Massachusetts.
“They tell me … there’s never been anything like it, and it’s never been more compelling,” Trump said from beneath the gilded ceiling of the Grand Ballroom on his Mar-a-Lago compound.
His victory speech touched on many of the key talking points that contributed to his success, which CNN broadcast in its entirety.
The decision marks a stark contrast from just days ago, when the left-wing network cut short Trump’s speech at the border, citing “several lies” he spread.
CNN chose to show Trump’s victory speech in full, despite previously choosing to cut itself off from him to check the facts
Trump was being watched by family members. From left to right: Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr. Tiffany Trump is on the far right, but there was no sign of Melania
Both the 81-year-old Biden and the 77-year-old Trump continue to dominate their parties, despite facing questions about age and neither having broad popularity among the general electorate.
Now it appears the two men are headed for a rematch of the 2020 election.
“November 5 will go down as the single most important day in the history of our country,” Trump said in his victory speech on Super Tuesday.
Trump didn’t even mention his Republican rival Nikki Haley during his speech instead, he continued his pivot to the presidential election and launched new salvos at Biden
“Other leaders… can’t believe what happened to us because three years ago we were by far the most respected country in the world,” the former president said.
CNN decided to broadcast the entire Trump speech from Florida after the polls closed, following previous decisions not to broadcast or abbreviate the Trump speeches. This move seemingly shows that CNN recognizes Trump as the Republican challenger who needs to be heard by the electorate.
CNN’s decision was different from that of fellow liberal network MSNBC, which stayed away from the speech.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow previously said the choice is “a decision that we will continually come back to and review.”
On Tuesday, she went so far as to reprimand her employers for broadcasting the speech, saying there are “costs” to news organizations for “knowingly broadcasting untruthful things.”
Former President Donald Trump delivered a victory speech in the Grand Ballroom of Mar-a-Lago at the end of Super Tuesday as he moved closer to securing the Republican nomination
CNN cut Trump’s speeches earlier last week when the network stopped airing Trump’s comments from the border on the migrant crisis. CNN reporter Daniel Dale instead checked the address, which he labeled “nonsense.”
Among Trump’s false claims were claims that people were being “emptied” from prisons and mental institutions into the US, a claim that Dale could find no evidence of.
Trump also claimed that many of those crossing the border were speaking “languages that no one has ever heard of,” which Dale said were “conjured out of thin air.”
CNN host Kaitlan Collins also noted that Trump misrepresented how much of the border wall was built under his administration.
He falsely claimed he had built 571 miles and Collins reminded viewers that “Mexico has not paid for that, which was another promise of his.”
But this is not the first time CNN has censored the former president.
Guests at Mar-a-Lago watch the election results while waiting for Donald Trump to speak
The audience was an eclectic mix of people who enjoy the idea of being ‘deplorables’ and the wealthy elite of Palm Beach society.
Last month, the network moved away from the former president’s comments following oral arguments from the Supreme Court on whether he should be disqualified from the Colorado ballot.
Anchor Jake Tapper interrupted as he began attacking the Biden administration, before the CNN panel burst into laughter.
The broadcaster also cut Trump’s victory speech during the New Hampshire primary in January to fact-check his claims, including repeating his claim that he won the 2020 election.
It comes as Biden’s allies have reportedly encouraged the media to draw more attention to Trump’s rhetoric as part of their campaign. The hill reports.