Rachel Maddow hits out at own network for showing Trump’s victory speech: ‘Irresponsible to broadcast!’

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said it was “irresponsible to broadcast” Donald Trump’s victory speech last night after he won Super Tuesday.

The network cut away from his speech before it was over which sparked a debate among the show’s panellists on how to cover speeches made by the former president after he made “false claims”.

Donald Trump is heading for a rematch with the current President Joe Biden after he stormed the primaries on Tuesday.

After his win, he made a speech where he took credit for the rise in the stock market and claimed President Joe Biden has been engaging in a “weaponisation” of the Justice Department.

After she cut in, Maddow told viewers: “I will say that it is a decision that we revisit constantly in terms of the balance.

“It is between allowing somebody to knowingly lie on air about things they lied about before, you can predict they are going to lie about, and so therefore it is irresponsible to allow them to do that.”

She added, “the balance between knowing that that’s irresponsible to broadcast, and also knowing that the soon-to-be-de facto nominee of the Republican Party, this is not only the man who was likely to be the Republican candidate for president, but this is the way he is running.”

He co-host Stephanie Ruhle chimed in: “Here’s how we balance it: Why don’t we fact check the hell out of him?”

Maddow agreed that it is the “best remedy that we have got”.

MSNBC’s decision to carry at least part of Trump’s remarks was in contrast to its coverage of the Iowa caucuses, when the network declined to cover his victory speech along with fellow news network CNN.

Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer has demanded that the two networks “take news out their name” as he accused them of exhibiting “Trump Derangement Syndrome”.

He explained: “You know, during our primary coverage tonight, if Joe Biden, as president of the United States, decided he wants to come out and give a speech, we would take his speech.

“We would listen to what he has to say. But on primary night after primary night, our competition sometimes refuses to take the winner.

“One of our competitors took four minutes, another took ten.

“If that’s what you’re going to do, take news out of your name because we should all be listening to these ideas and thoughts.

“And if Biden came out, we would take him and be fair to his message.”