CNBC anchor Shepard Smith asked producers to stop airing Donald Trump’s address to rioters on Wednesday when the president opened the message with a lie.
“I know your pain, I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us; it was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side,” Trump said in the video, which was released after his supporters violently stormed the Capitol during a joint congressional session to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
“Stop! Stop the tape,” exclaimed Smith, who formerly worked at Fox News. “That is not true, and we are not airing it.”
Reminding viewers that Trump’s claims have been debunked by his “own hand-picked judges” and the Justice Department, Smith condemned Trump for bringing up that narrative amid the chaos.
“It’s the kind of rhetoric that has led us to this moment,” he said.
“We have to have peace, so go home,” Trump later told his supporters, who had destroyed property, invaded the offices of lawmakers and waved Confederate flags inside the U.S. Capitol. “We love you, you’re very special.”
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