MSNBC's Rachel Maddow becomes online punchline after saying network won't 'knowingly broadcast untrue things'

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MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, CNN's Jake Tapper defend decision to not air Trump's remarks live

CNN and MSNBC both decided not to air former President Donald Trump's remarks to supporters after his court appearance, saying it could be 'dangerous' and would damage their network's reputation.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow was pilloried by conservatives after declaring the network couldn't "knowingly broadcast untrue things" as its reasoning behind not taking former President Donald Trump's post-indictment speech live.

The highly paid anchor and Russiagate enthusiast usually only appears Monday nights but joined MSNBC's special coverage on Tuesday of the historic federal charges against Trump, where she explained why the left-wing network would not air Trump in real time as he addressed supporters in Bedminister, New Jersey.

"As we have said before in these circumstances, there is a cost to us as a news organization to knowingly broadcast untrue things," she said. "We are here to bring you the news. It hurts our ability to do that if we live broadcast what we fully expect in advance to be a litany of lies and false accusations, no matter who says them. And I do not say this with any glee."

"Rachel Maddow will determine which lies are fit for the public to hear. That will work out well," writer Jason Whitlock tweeted in response.

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MSNBC's Rachel Maddow said it gave her no glee to explain why the network wouldn't take former President Donald Trump live after his indictment. (MSNBC / Screenshot)

Outspoken White House reporter Simon Ateba declared Maddow's remarks "a lie," while right-wing site The Post Millennial called her a "disgraced propagandist."

Video editor Matt Orfalea shared a montage of media coverage on COVID-19, which included bold proclamations on MSNBC and other networks about vaccines. Maddow herself said in 2021 that "vaccines work well enough that the virus stops with every vaccinated person," which turned out to be untrue. While the vaccines have been effective in preventing severe outcomes, they have not stopped people from getting or transmitting the virus. 

Maddow was also one of the faces of MSNBC's fixation for years on the Trump-Russia collusion theory and hyping the ultimately discredited Christopher Steele dossier. MSNBC has also been criticized in recent years for pushing the liberal narrative that the Hunter Biden laptop was part of a Russian misinformation campaign, which has also been debunked.

"Proving that she has absolutely no sense of irony, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow declared there’s a cost for her network to 'knowingly broadcast untrue things,' conservative media analyst Kevin Tober wrote for NewsBusters.

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Media progressives were pleased with the stand taken by the network. Maddow was implicitly praised by CNN's outspoken media reporter Oliver Darcy, who retweeted her explanation without commentary. He also noted CNN didn't take Trump live and couldn't resist taking a shot at his former boss Chris Licht in his newsletter Tuesday night.

"The move to not air Trump's remarks live notably represented a departure from how the network handled Trump's post-New York arraignment speech. In that case, under former boss Chris Licht, CNN aired most of Trump's remarks," Darcy wrote.

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In hs remarks to supporters, Trump cast his "sham" federal indictment as "election interference" by the Biden administration, slamming it as "the most heinous abuse of power in the history of our country."

Trump, the current 2024 Republican frontrunner, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Miami on Tuesday to 37 federal felony counts stemming from the investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records at Mar-a-Lago. He faces a prison sentence that could conceivably put him behind bars for the rest of his life.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.