Donald Trump’s Coronavirus Press Conferences Being Cut off by CNN and MSNBC

CNN and MSNBC recently cut from President Donald Trump’s coronavirus press conference on Tuesday night, something many had been calling for in the days preceding. Both outlets addressed that they would continue to keep their audience informed if anything important was said throughout the rest of his briefing, but otherwise would continue with other programming and reporting.

MSNBC warned their audience before the press event with host Chuck Todd laying out the reasoning. “We know these briefings have a tendency to veer in a lot of directions. Not all of them are informative or relevant in the midst of this crisis.” He added, “If it veers too much off, we will break off and come back here but for the most part we want to listen in to the information we hope he is bringing to all of us.”

By the point in which they cut him off, he had been standing in front of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room for 100 minutes plus. “We cut off the president at this juncture because we have gotten a great deal of information as well as other statements, and we’re going to go through it for you,” MSNBC host Ari Melber addressed after the fact.

While MSNBC cut Trump off, CNN was late to the briefing according to The Washington Post. The network joined in after his opening statement allowing just enough time before he turned it over to his task force experts, Deborah Birx and Anthony S. Fauci. Shortly after Trump was asked about his discussions with Franklin Graham saying, “I just spoke to him today for an extended period of time. I told him what a fantastic job you’re doing … He loves helping people. And he loves Jesus, that I can tell you. He loves Jesus. He’s a great gentleman,” when he was cut off. CNN then went to anchor Erin Burnett who said, “All right. And you have been listening to President Trump and his corona task force briefing with, of course, Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx with him and Vice President Pence.”

While MSNBC and CNN managed to cut parts out of Trump’s briefing, Fox News aired the entire thing.

While the coronavirus continues to grow, the United States are seeing more and more cases and deaths because of COVID-19. It’s been reported that the U.S. deaths have topped the 5,000 mark with more than 1,000 reported in one single day. Many social media users have aired their concern on what could potentially happen next for the world as the numbers continue to rise.