A public radio station in Washington state, KUOW, will no longer be airing White House press briefings on the coronavirus “due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time.”
The president has participated in the briefings with the administration’s coronavirus task force almost every day, standing alongside members of his Cabinet and public health officials.
"KUOW is monitoring White House briefings for the latest news on the coronavirus — and we will continue to share all news relevant to Washington State with our listeners," the station said in a tweet.
"However, we will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time," it added.
However, we will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time. (2) — KUOW Public Radio (@KUOW) March 24, 2020
Trump has been criticized for having messaging that is at times different than that of public health officials.
Trump was also criticized for playing down the virus earlier on, but his subsequent handling of the crisis has seen him getting a bump in the polls.
Washington is one of the states hardest-hit by the virus, with nearly 2,500 confirmed cases as of Wednesday.
“It’s not surprising, but also a failure of their duty to the American people, that some media outlets would choose to block their audiences from receiving accurate, up-to-date information on President Trump Donald John TrumpThe pandemic is bad, we need the capability to measure just how bad Florida governor wants federal disaster area declaration Amash calls stimulus package 'a raw deal' for 'those who need the most help' MORE’s whole-of-government approach to slowing the spread of COVID-19,” Judd Deere, a White House spokesperson, told The Hill.
He added that “no other Administration has been as transparent and as accessible as this one, and we will continue to make sure this Nation hears from its leaders and top health experts during this global pandemic.”
Before the coronavirus pandemic the administration rarely held White House briefings, deviating from precedent set by previous administrations.
--This report was updated at 12:52 p.m.
soul_of_ice on March 25th, 2020 at 17:50 UTC »
My local npr station is not airing it and is choosing to air the governor's briefings instead
Thanks WYSO for being awesome.
*Edit: WYSO yellow springs, oh (Dayton metro area)
powerful_historian on March 25th, 2020 at 16:59 UTC »
Just take a second to understand the fact that the President’s statements during a time a national crisis can not be aired because he is overtly lying to the point of harm. That’s where we are as a country.
__tmk__ on March 25th, 2020 at 16:21 UTC »
Yay! Let's hope this catches on (can't say "going viral" these days).