Delusional Trump, 80, Self-Soothes After Primetime Humiliation
The president promised “something big” before ranting like a broken record for 27 minutes.
Aaron Chown/via Reuters
President Donald Trump has self-soothed after his primetime TV address was relentlessly ridiculed.
In an attempt to rehash old conspiracies about what he calls voter fraud and manipulation from bad actors, the president, 80, set up an address to the nation on Thursday.
He promised something “big,” but what came was a familiar MAGAfied version of the truth—and a beating from the press afterward. Even Fox News struggled to spin Trump airing his alternative truths.

Truth Social / Donald Trump
“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,” the network’s White House correspondent Aishah Hasnie said of alleged evidence that electronic voting machines are easily compromised, after it aired just over five minutes of the address before pivoting back to the subject of Iran.
This was one of a pile of negative reviews from networks, correspondents, and contributors from across the spectrum. The reviews were so bad, in fact, that a White House lackey was forced to devote their Thursday night responding to every piece of criticism in a petty revenge tour.
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Even still, Trump loaded up Truth Social on Friday morning to act like none of this dissent ever took place. “Great reviews on speech last night. Big audience,” he declared, ignoring the criticism.
It is also unclear how Trump knows how large the “audience” was, as figures on TV viewership are not yet public. It could be that he is speaking about the White House YouTube livestream, which drew 540,000 pairs of eyes.
He ranted and raved from the East Room.
SAUL LOEB/SAUL LOEB/Pool via REUTERS
He added, “Pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!!! Thank you! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
He was not so conciliatory during the speech, touching on the news that some networks didn’t think it was worth airing his rambling whatsoever. He said that the guilty parties, ABC and NBC, should lose their licenses as a result.
“In a rare move, NBC and ABC Fake news have both said that they would not cover this speech. They knew what it was about because of the fact that they don’t like the topic because they know how corrupt our system is and they don’t want to reveal it,” Trump said.
He angrily claimed that the networks and other media were “part of a plot.”
“They want to continue this fraud for whatever reason. They want to keep it going. They want to protect the radical left. They can’t have a great country, and that’s true.
“You can’t have a great country without free and fair elections. Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses.
“They use our public multi-billion-dollar-in-value airwaves for absolutely no money. They pay nothing. All we want is honesty in our elections and honesty in reporting. They pay nothing for multi-billion-dollar assets. Great damage has been done to our country. Our elections were left vulnerable to being rigged and stolen, and the trust of the American people was lost. This cannot be allowed to continue,” he added.
Unlock a year of full access to The Looker and The Daily Beast for $35.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Looker and The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
Sign in
Login dialog


ADVERTISEMENT
Sign in or create an account
Login dialog
Loading comments…
ADVERTISEMENT