Outgoing and twice impeached President Donald Trump released a pre-recorded farewell as he departed Washington. But many of the US’ major networks didn’t show it.
Trump was banned from Facebook and Twitter in the wake of his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on 6 January. His personal account on YouTube has also been suspended for the next week.
The 20-minute farewell video was instead posted to the official White House account, on the eve of Joe Biden’s inauguration.
He gave a lengthy recitation of his administration’s achievements and criticised “political censorship” and “blacklisting” in the address.
However, while multiple outlets reported on the farewell, many of the US’ major television networks have not aired it, as The Independent noted.
“Only Newsmax is airing Trump’s farewell video,” Washington Post reporter Jeremy Barr tweeted.
Fox News—and fellow Murdoch-owned outlet in Australia news.com.au—, The Hill, Daily Mail, and Canada’s Global News, are among the only major outlets to share the farewell in full, while the likes of NBC News, the US’ ABC News, the UK’s The Telegraph, and Sky News Australia have shared it only in part.
However, The Independent noted that, as the video is a pre-record and not a live cast, it may be released in full or in part later in the day by outlets.
Trump wished the incoming administration “good luck”, but was criticised for not mentioning Biden’s name once. He also declared that he “took on the tough battles” and vowed that “the movement we started is only just beginning”.
He also said: “I’m especially proud to be the first President in decades who has started no new wars.”
The farewell was, however, replete with falsehoods that have become staples of Trump’s remarks, The New York Times reported in a fact check of the 20-minute pre-record.
These include claims the Trump administration “built the greatest economy in the history of the world”, and that it passed the “largest package of tax cuts and reforms in American history”.
AP News has also compiled a fact check of Trump’s farewell, which includes more than a handful of corrections to statements made by him in the 20-minute pre-record.
Featured image source: YouTube/The White House
