Television stations are being threatened by President Donald Trump’s campaign if they continue to broadcast an ad alleging that the president called the coronavirus a “hoax.”
The ad, running in key battleground states of Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, was cut by the liberal super PAC Priorities USA, according to The Hill. Alex Cannon, legal counsel for the Trump campaign sent a letter warning television stations in those states to stop airing the ad.
“Given the foregoing, should you fail to immediately cease broadcasting PUSA’s ad ‘Exponential Threat’, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. will have no choice but to pursue all legal remedies available to it in law and in equity” the letter said. “We will not stand idly by and allow you to broadcast false, deceptive, and misleading information concerning President’s Trump’s healthcare positions without consequence.”
The ad splices together different audio clips of Trump talking about the virus and Democrats' efforts against him.
In the ad, The Hill noted, Trump is heard saying in the spliced clips: “The coronavirus, this is their new hoax. It's one person coming in from China. One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear.”
But the website, Snopes, said Trump was actually comparing Democrats’ criticism of his administration’s response to the outbreak to their efforts to impeach him when he used the word “hoax.”
And it concluded: “Despite creating some confusion with his remarks, Trump did not call the coronavirus itself a hoax.”
But Priorities USA strategist Josh Schwerin called the legal move by the Trump campaign a “stunt.”
The Hill also noted the Trump campaign has asked Twitter to apply its “manipulated media” tag to video claiming Trump called the virus a hoax.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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