MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Trump farewell video: Only Newsmax and OANN air speech live as major networks show pics of Biden landing in DC

In his pre-recorded video that Trump shared on YouTube, he wished the new administration 'good luck' and prosperity but did not once take Joe Biden's name in full

When US President Donald Trump took to podium one last time to address a nation that was eagerly waiting for Joe Biden's inauguration, he expressed gratitude. "To serve as your president has been an honor beyond description," Trump said in a taped 20-minute address posted to YouTube on Tuesday, January 19. "Thank you for this extraordinary privilege. And that’s what it is - a great privilege and a great honor." He also said in his speech how he was "especially proud to be the first president in decades who has started no new war". But many simply could not watch the video as many on social media pointed out that the video was not broadcast on mainstream news broadcasts.

"Only Newsmax is airing Trump's farewell video," Jeremy Barr, a reporter for the Washington Post tweeted.

Shortly after he shared the tweet, Barr added that Fox News announced it would also run the president's message in full. In the pre-recorded video that Trump shared on YouTube, he wished the new administration "good luck" and prosperity but did not once take Biden's name in full.  

For many on social media, this was a cue to laughter. "US mainstream media all chose to stay with pictures of President-Elect Joe Biden disembarking from the plane at the time the Donald Trump recording of his final speech as President was released," another user wrote. "BAD NEWS: Fox News did not air Trump’s farewell speech. GOOD NEWS: Newsmax and OANN carried it live," another added. 

Some users were upset that broadcasters chose to air footage of Biden arriving in Washington DC for his inauguration rather than Trump's address. "Not sure what country I’m living in... Not one mainstream TV network carried President Trump’s farewell address not even FOX, or FBN, I looked! CSPAN 3 actually had the audacity to air the Clinton farewell speech at the same time President Trump was giving his own farewell," an enraged Twitter user wrote.

Rita Katz, the director of SITE Intelligence Group, pointed out how QAnon conspiracy theorists and Trump loyalists claimed the video was a deepfake. "An entire brainwashed movement now responding that Trump’s farewell speech just now was 'deepfake,' that he’s still "NOT CONCEDING," and continuing embrace of 'civil war,'" she wrote. "Some taking the speech itself as a nod to continue their 'awakened' movement." 

Others criticized Trump's use of a pre-recorded, rather than live address, claiming it was a clear indication he was bitter over his loss. "Nothing encapsulates the smallness and isolation of Trump's final days as President more succinctly than pre-taping his farewell address and tossing it up on YouTube. A sad, pathetic ending for a historically petty man," Tommy Vietor, a member of the Barack Obama administration, wrote. 

It might seem as though Trump had planned the whole thing the day he lost the election to Biden. He will not be attending the inauguration of the new president and pre-recorded his farewell speech instead of giving it live to his supporters and the American people. 

You can watch the farewell speech in its entirety here: