CNN Cuts Trump’s Michigan Rally, Fact-Checks ‘Number of Falsehoods’
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CNN interrupted live coverage of former President Donald Trump’s campaign speech on Thursday to deliver an extensive fact-check of what they described as numerous falsehoods. The network cut away from Trump’s rally in Saginaw, Michigan, after he made a series of inaccurate claims, including an attack on Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he mispronounced.
During the rally, Trump proclaimed, “We’re not going to stand for it anymore. Kamala, you’re fired, get out, you’re fired.” CNN anchors Brianna Keilar and Boris Sanchez promptly interrupted, with Sanchez appearing visibly fatigued by the ongoing stream of misinformation.
“We’ve been listening to former President Donald Trump,” Sanchez said, “essentially attacking his Democratic rival, saying a number of falsehoods that we will fact-check.”
One of Trump’s misleading statements involved Haitian immigrants in Ohio. Trump falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants, many of whom have temporary protected status, have significantly increased the population of Springfield, Ohio, and even claimed they eat pets. Sanchez noted that Trump had inflated the numbers, stating that Trump “altered them nearly to double those numbers.”
Additionally, Trump revisited his previous comments on Social Security and Medicare, suggesting that the influx of new beneficiaries would cause the programs to collapse. He boasted, “Remember, for four years I took care of it. I didn’t raise the age five years. You know what that means. That means, ‘Darling, I thought I was going to have Social Security.’… I won’t [raise the age], because I would have done it already. But they’re going to do it.”
CNN’s anchors fact-checked these claims as well, pointing out contradictions in Trump’s prior statements about federal financial protections. Sanchez and Keilar highlighted how Trump had, in the past, shifted positions on these issues without explanation.
Keilar then addressed another of Trump’s falsehoods, where he claimed that the White House had restricted his ability to hold larger rallies by failing to provide adequate security. “Not true,” Keilar said. “But we know that he is certainly sensitive to crowd numbers in any appearance that they may have shrunk.”
Lastly, Keilar fact-checked Trump’s repeated claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” and that he had won. “He said the vote needs to be too big to rig because he won in 2020, which he didn’t. He said 2020 was rigged, which it wasn’t,” Keilar asserted, referencing the two ongoing criminal cases against Trump related to his attempts to overturn the election results.
CNN’s decision to cut away from Trump’s speech underscores their commitment to fact-checking misinformation in real-time, especially as the 2024 election approaches.
