Anchors of two major news networks decided to stop airing footage of President Donald Trump’s visit to a Miami restaurant which took place shortly after he became the first former president to be charged with federal crimes.
On their respective broadcasts, both MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace and CNN’s Jake Tapper commented that the footage of Trump greeting his supporters at Versailles, a famous Miami restaurant, was not newsworthy compared to the news of his arraignment and called on producers to cut to a different scene.
Moments before the restaurant stop, the twice-impeached former president was arrested and arraigned on a 37-count indictment in connection to an investigation into classified documents he kept after his presidency.
At Versailles, Trump received a warm welcome from a crowd of supporters, who sang “Happy Birthday” to him. (Trump turns 78 years old on Wednesday.)
“I want to explain the picture on our screen,” Wallace told viewers on Tuesday after MSNBC aired footage of the scene at Versailles. “Trump has gone to a famous place that all Republican candidates, actually probably Democrat candidates, go as well. It’s Versailles. It’s a Little Havana in the Miami area. He’s still a candidate for president. We don’t need to see that anymore, we know where he is.”
Tapper made similar comments Tuesday, referring to it as a “campaign ad.”
“To the folks in the control room, I don’t need to see any more of that. He’s trying to turn it into a spectacle and into a campaign ad. That is enough of that. We’ve seen it already,” Tapper said.
Trump bashed Tapper on his social media site, Truth Social, after Tapper’s remarks aired.
“Fake Tapper just demanded that his broadcast be closed down from Miami because there was far too much enthusiasm on the streets for ‘Trump.’ The good news is, he was the only one to do so, perhaps a good explanation as to why CNN’s ratings are so low!” Trump wrote, failing to mention that Wallace made a similar decision.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and wilful retention of national defence information.