Some Washington, D.C., local news outlets said they decided not to broadcast the entirety of President Donald Trump’s July Fourth address, instead opting to air regularly scheduled programming.
Trump delivered a patriotic Independence Day speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where crowds gathered despite the rainy weather to listen to the address, which focused largely on the military, the future of the country, and past heroes.
CBS affiliate WUSA 9 did not broadcast Trump’s speech at the time, the outlet said.
“No, we put on our news. At news time, we put on our news,” a spokesperson from WUSA 9 told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The network did, however, cover the event in other ways, like talking segments and man-on-the-street interviews.
NBC 4 said it began broadcasting the first part of Trump’s speech during a newscast, but cut away at 7 p.m. when the program was scheduled to end.
“We broke in and had to conclude the show,” an NBC 4 spokesperson said. “We had to conclude the newscast.”
While some outlets chose not to air all of Trump’s speech, others fixated on it. ABC affiliate WJLA said it decided to air coverage of the entire “Salute to America” event, including the full length of Trump’s speech.
“We probably had more local news coverage than any other local news channel in the market, including covering the entirety of the president’s speech,” a WJLA spokesperson said.
The speech was livestreamed from PBS News Hour’s YouTube channel, a spokesperson from local PBS affiliate WETA said.
PBS News Hour also reported on the speech during a live broadcast Thursday, according to the spokesperson.