Lawrence O'Donnell, host of MSNBC's The Last Word, has condemned the media, including his own network, for broadcasting Donald Trump's entire press conference while neglecting coverage of Kamala Harris's speech in Michigan.
O'Donnell on Thursday night accused news networks of repeating the mistakes of the 2016 election, saying that Trump's remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate were riddled with lies. He argued that real-time fact-checking, such as a live scroll on screen, should have been employed but was not.
He cited Trump's claim that Harris was not intelligent enough to hold a press conference, suggesting networks could have countered with her academic record. O'Donnell also highlighted Trump's non-answer to a question about mifepristone from NBC's Garrett Haake, calling it an insult to reporters.
The MSNBC anchor further criticised other cable news channels for airing over an hour of Trump's press conference but failing to cover Harris's speech live. He pledged to 'correct that mistake' by showing her full appearance on his programme.
O'Donnell concluded that anyone claiming Harris must hold a press conference because Trump already did so was 'lying to themselves and to you'.
