ToplinePresident Donald Trump attacked ABC and NBC, calling for their broadcast licenses to be revoked, after the two networks did not carry his primetime speech on Thursday night during which he accused China of illegally accessing U.S. voter data and restated his long-running grievances about election security in the country.President Donald Trump gestures after speaking in the East Room of the White House.AFP or licensorsKey FactsCNN also did not air the president’s speech live, while CBS aired most of the address in a special segment anchored by Tony Dokoupil with major disclaimers about Trump’s previous falsehoods about the 2020 elections.In his speech, the president said NBC and ABC news, in a “rare move,” were not covering his speech live—although there have been other previous instances of networks not preempting the schedule for a presidential address.Without offering any evidence, Trump accused the networks and “others in the media” of being engaged in “a plot” and claimed, “they know how corrupt our system is and they don’t want to reveal it.”Despite there being no evidence of widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections, Trump said the networks want to “continue this fraud…keep it going” and “protect the radical left.”The president then appeared to describe NBC and ABC’s refusal to air his speech as an act of “fraud” and said this “should mean a revocation of their licenses.”Insisting that “this can’t be allowed to continue,” Trump railed against the networks for using “our public multi-billion dollar in value airways for absolutely no money.”TangentAlthough Fox News carried the president’s speech in its entirety at one point, the network chimed in with a disclaimer about Trump’s claims. A Fox News anchor said, "We…heard the president make claims that electronic voting machines are vulnerable and easily compromised. Fox News has not seen the evidence yet and is not in a position to evaluate the accuracy of the president's statement and claims.”Key backgroundIn the past year, Trump has repeatedly threatened to revoke broadcast licenses of various networks for negative coverage of him or his administration—raising concerns among free speech advocates. In a Truth Social post last year, Trump attacked ABC and NBC, calling them “two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES.” The president said he was in favor of revoking their broadcast licenses as he baselessly accused them of being an “ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.” In April, the Federal Communications Commission filed an order to conduct an early license review of 8 ABC-run stations. The National Association of Broadcasters described the FCC’s actions as “nearly unprecedented.” The agency’s chair and Trump appointee, Brendan Carr, who has sided with the president’s criticism of the networks has, however, denied that the license review was the result of external “pressure” or “suggestion” from the White House. further readingTrump Accuses China Of Meddling In Elections As He Rehashes Old Concerns About 2020 (Forbes)