Donald Trump was expected to deliver Trump speech today in primetime, with the address widely expected to revisit the 2020 election. Democratic lawmakers moved first, trying to shape how viewers would hear it before he spoke.
Jon Ossoff said, “Here’s what’s going to happen tonight: the world’s most famous sore loser will deliver a prime time presidential sour grapes address to pursue his six-year-old grievances about the 2020 election”. NBC and ABC reportedly declined to air the address live, leaving the nation’s audience split between live television and streaming.
Angela Alsobrooks and Jon Ossoff
Angela Alsobrooks framed her response in the voice of a young person worried about an elderly relative who could not let go of a favorite conspiracy theory. Her comments fit the same push from the Democratic party, which began answering Trump before the speech itself.
Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s findings about alleged interference in the 2020 election “will shock you,” setting up a direct clash over what the address would try to prove. The contrast was already clear: Trump’s speech was being described as a discussion of alleged election interference, while Democratic lawmakers called it repeated election denialism.
Doris Matsui in California
The dispute widened after Trump used an innovation summit in Pennsylvania on Wednesday to make a claim about the CHIPS Act and transgender executives. Doris Matsui, the California congresswoman and co-author of the CHIPS Act, responded on social media after seeing video of his remarks.
She said, “As one of the architects of the CHIPS Act, let me be clear: Donald Trump is lying” and added that he was “deliberately spewing disinformation to incite hatred and divide Americans while attacking one of the most important investments we’ve made in American manufacturing, economic growth, and national security.” The CHIPS Act was described as a bipartisan law signed by Joe Biden and backed by $52bn in subsidies and tax credits to boost US chip manufacturing.
Tonight’s address became a test of reach as much as message. If NBC and ABC stay off the live feed, viewers will have to find Trump’s remarks through streaming, while Democrats keep pressing the claim that the speech is about revisiting the 2020 election rather than moving past it.
