“This Has Been Going On And On”: CNN Cuts Away From Donald Trump Press Conference As Former President Makes Marathon Opening Statement

Donald Trump opened his latest press conference by delivering an opening statement that went on … and on.

After 30 minutes, CNN cut away.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer told viewers, “We’re continuing to monitor the former president of the United States. He’s still with his so called opening statement that’s been going on well more than a half an hour, close to 40 minutes already…This has been going on and on.”

In his remarks, Trump, reading from written remarks, laid the blame for inflation on his rival Kamala Harris, while accusing her of pursuing “communist” policies. But he also attacked Harris on the border, crime and other issues, and even predicted that her election would lead to a 1929-style stock market crash. On Fox News, which stayed with the remarks, the ticker showed the market getting a big boost during the day, with the Dow rising more than 500 points.

MSNBC bypassed the remarks altogether.

The networks faced some criticism last week for carrying Trump’s press conference in Palm Beach, allowing him to advance falsehoods without a real-time fact check.

As it typically does, CNN went to a fact check with Daniel Dale, who said that many of Trump’s claims have been “debunked before.” He focused on two: One that California allows people to rob stores as long as the thieves take under $950, and the other that mortgage rates are at 10%, when the standard 30-year fixed is at 6.9%.

CNN did return to the press conference once Trump started taking questions — after about 50 minutes.