The Trump campaign is asking supporters to sign a petition to demand that news networks continue airing President Trump’s daily press briefings on the coronavirus crisis, countering a liberal effort to take him off the air.
“Stand with your president!” the campaign said in an email. “The left wants to keep President Trump’s daily press conferences off the air because, unlike the fake news, he’s actually telling the American people the truth.”
It asks supporters to sign the petition “to demand the fake news continue airing President Trump’s daily press conferences!” There’s also a link for campaign donations.
“President Trump needs to know he can count on you right now while he’s fighting for America, it’s up to us to fight for him,” the campaign said.
Nearly 200,000 people have signed a petition published on MoveOn.org calling on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR and Fox News to stop airing live coverage of the White House’s briefings on the coronavirus outbreak. The liberal group said Mr. Trump is using the briefings as a “live campaign rally.”
“President Trump is blatantly using the news organizations’ extensive, live coverage to freely campaign for a second term,” the MoveOn petition states. “It is wrong and dangerous to provide so much unfettered airtime to someone who is happily, shamelessly spreading terrible, damaging misinformation that is already costing fellow Americans their lives.”
The Trump campaign said 84% of people who responded to its recent survey are watching the president’s press briefings in late afternoon.
Mr. Trump holds the briefings with a rotation of key members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, including Vice President Mike Pence; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Dr. Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator.
Due to the outbreak, the president hasn’t held a campaign rally since Feb. 28 in South Carolina.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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