Trump Spokesperson: Fox News Violated First Amendment by Not Showing Speech

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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On Tuesday, Donald Trump announced his 2024 presidential bid in an hour-long speech that not even Fox News—which covered the announcement for longer than any major cable channel—covered in its entirety.

The network's interruption of the livestream angered the former president, with a Trump spokesperson accusing Fox News of being in breach of the First Amendment.

In the midst of Trump's speech from his Mar-a-Lago residence, Fox News cut away from the livestream to allow for host Sean Hannity—a strong supporter of the former president—to quiz several conservative pundits, including Mike Huckabee, Pete Hegseth and Leo Terrell, about the significance of the announcement.

After several minutes of political analysis and commentary, the network rejoined the speech as Trump was delivering his final remarks.

The interruption of the livestream of Trump's presidential campaign bid signals an important rift between the cable channel and the former president, despite the fact that Fox News still gave the former president's announcement more relevance than any other cable channel, considering CNN showed Trump's remarks live for 20 minutes and MSNBC didn't show it live at all.

Donald Trump
Former US President Donald Trump speaks at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on November 15, 2022. ALON SKUY/AFP via Getty Images

Speaking on the right-wing to far-right news channel Real America's Voice, Trump's spokesperson, Liz Harrington, compared the cable channels' cutting away from Trump's live speech to what she called "those games throughout the 2020 campaign," accusing news networks of trying to prevent "the American people to hear directly from the biggest leader of the greatest political movement in our history."

Harrington said that "the people are anxious" to hear from Trump, suggesting they would ditch the major cable channels that cut away from the former president's speech for smaller, conservative channels.

She also accused networks who cut away from Trump's speech to be violating the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Trump announced his third presidential bid despite many among the Republican ranks raising concerns over his influence on the party.

In the midterms, GOP candidates failed to bring about the widely expected "red wave," with Trump-endorsed nominees performing worse than those he didn't support.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is widely considered Trump's main challenger in the next presidential campaign, though he had previously said he would not run against Trump.

Mike Pence and Ted Cruz are also considered by analysts' as possible challengers, but none have yet made any formal (or even informal) announcement suggesting they will run in the next presidential election.

In the wake of DeSantis' overwhelming victory in Florida, Murdoch's outlets have praised the Republican governor, suggesting the media empire's loyalty might be swaying away from Trump and towards a new leadership for the GOP.

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About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

Writers Page

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more