Congrats Networks! Wall Speech Was $17.7M Of Free Airtime To Trump 2020

The networks' decision to cover Trump's "wall" speech was outed as a plain-as-day fundraising gambit for 2020. How many more times will they be conned by the so-called president?
By Frances Langum — January 10, 2019

So Donald Trump used his "Wall Speech" as a fundraising gambit for his 2020 re-election campaign.

Not only was the speech full of lies, predictably. Before and after the speech the Trump campaign sent out emails asking supporters to contribute to their "border security fund," which, in the fine print, goes straight into the Trump 2020 coffers. NBC News:

The four broadcast networks and three cable news channels provided Trump with an estimated $17.7 million of airtime, according to Apex Marketing Group, a company that tracks the value of airtime for corporations. The company calculated the value of the Democratic response at $9 million. Trump's speech was just over nine minutes long while the rebuttal was over four minutes.

Chuck and Nancy didn't send out re-election fundraising texts before and after their rebuttal, NBC.

As Lawrence O'Donnell called out Trump on his show for this fraud, Trump responded by tweeting hostility towards MSNBC.

Perhaps the networks will learn their lesson from this? Nah. Trump brings ratings, and they are whores for ratings, no matter how bad it makes them look. Remember 2016?

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