Donald Trump is in the spotlight for his 2024 speech, but networks differ in coverage and snippets

Donald Trump grabbed the media spotlight Tuesday for his presidential announcement speech, but broadcasters differed in how they approached the event, carrying parts of it and cutting others.

The coverage could provide a glimpse of how Trump will be treated as he makes his third presidential bid — a top story for sure, but not the only one.

Trump promoted the speech as “one of the most important in our nation’s history,” but networks’ attention alternated with other stories throughout the day. That includes the missile attack on Poland minutes before Trump took the stage, which focused attention on his arch-nemesis, President Joe Biden.

CNN carried Mar-a-Lago’s speech for more than 20 minutes before stopping when Trump made the official announcement. Anderson Cooper then went fact-checking with Daniel Dale, a regular during the 2020 election cycle. The network also prepared better for the speech than its competitors, showing it in the hours leading up to it, including Cooper’s interview with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and Erin Burnett’s interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, author of two Trump books that in Mar-a-Lago was published to cover the speech. It also included photos of the Mar-a-Lago ballroom filling up with guests in front of the empty cathedral.

Fox News covered much of Trump’s speech Hannie and share it while The Ingraham Corner, which was cut off at various times as it approached the one-hour mark. When Trump started talking about “Angela,” meaning former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Hannity turned to Mike Huckabee and Pete Hegseth for their glowing reviews. Huckabee said Trump would be “unbeatable” if he stuck to the message as he did in the speech; Hegseth spoke of there being “only one original” amid a potential field of GOP contenders.

This positive commentary contrasts with that of other Rupert Murdoch outlets such as the New York Post and Wall Street Journal, which have slammed Trump after back-to-back losses. As if trying to spin this into a Trump victory, Monica Crowley later told Ingraham it was remarkable that on the same night Trump entered the presidential race, a media outlet predicted the GOP would win the majority in the House of Representatives would win. The branch was Decision Desk’s headquarters, and the majority will be very thin.

MSNBC stayed with Alex Wagner and his analysts for much of the speech, sometimes dropping in and others sharing the screen.

The streaming channels of the broadcast networks processed the speech, but did not broadcast it in full, instead selecting it for analysis. NewsNation carried the speech, but also cut from the finish line.

All networks are heavily scrutinized, especially when there are a large number of candidates in the Republican primary. In 2016, CNN was criticized for the attention it gave to Trump’s rallies over other candidates, while NBC networks were forced to give air time to other GOP candidates after the former famous apprentice Stern was invited to present Saturday night live. Then CBS chief Les Moonves famously said Trump’s campaign “may not be good for America,” but it was “damn good for CBS.”

CNN has indicated it will take a different approach this time around, weighing events for newsworthiness rather than relegating them to the Trump-A-Rama of previous cycles, and most other networks have reflected a slightly more cautious approach that is a presidential candidate’s right, but don’t overdo it. That speech was also far from the novelty of seven years ago, when Trump’s ride on an escalator was met with some confusion and outrage.

The news is likely to be about Trump as he is at the center of the federal investigation, the January 6 commission report and the first major candidate in the 2024 field. And depending on his ability to pull off a ratings spectacle — imagine one first debate ahead with Ron DeSantis — the temptation may be too great for Trump to pass up.