President Donald Trump is trying to make one last, desperate push in order to convince Americans of the need for a wall on the Southern border with a prime time Oval Office address on Tuesday evening, but the major networks are signaling that they may not be willing to grant him airtime.
The New York Times reported Monday that the White House has decided to send Trump to the border on Thursday, two days after he speaks to the American people:
“President Trump wants to address the nation about the government shutdown on Tuesday night, and later in the week plans to travel to the southern border as part of his effort to persuade Americans of the need for a border wall — the sticking point in negotiations with Democrats who are eager to reopen shuttered agencies.
“The White House did not immediately respond to questions about a request to television networks to carve out time for an Oval Office address. A person familiar with the request said the White House had asked to interrupt prime time programming on Tuesday.”
However, Michael Grynbaum noted that two networks were debating whether or not such an address from the president would be newsworthy:
TRUMP wants primetime slot tomorrow to talk shutdown, @esullivannyt & @maggieNYT scoop
At least TWO major networks still deliberating – skepticism about handing over airwaves for political statement https://t.co/FznOfqjoXi
— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) January 7, 2019
That led the utterly clueless Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe to fire off this in response:
How can the media criticize President Trump on First Amendment issues and then deny him a primetime address? Hypocrites.
— Lisa Boothe (@LisaMarieBoothe) January 7, 2019
Where Ms. Boothe got the idea that the First Amendment guarantees anyone a right to broadcast on the airwaves is unclear, but it does prove that most Trump supporters have never actually bothered to read or understand the Constitution, and certainly don’t think it should apply to their political savior.
But the planned address and trip to the border make it clear that Trump knows he’s getting blamed for the shutdown and is desperate to try and reframe the issue. That alone should tell us that he’s grasping at straws and running out of reasons to continue making federal employees work without pay.
Featured Image Via CNN
