On his program Monday night, CNN's Don Lemon urged the network to incorporate a "delay" during President Trump's primetime address on border security, such as one you'd have during a live awards ceremony when Christian Bale or Patricia Arquette step up to the mic with no filter. Otherwise, it's like their network will be "promoting propaganda" that comes out of Trump's mouth, Lemon feared.
"People will believe it whether the facts are true or not," Lemon said. "I guess that's the chance you take with any president. But this one is different. And then by the time the rebuttals come on, we've already promoted propaganda possibly, unless he gets up there and tells the truth."
The voice of reason? Chris Cuomo. After giving Lemon a dumbfounded look, Cuomo said the president of the United States has the right to speak directly to the American people. And the media has the right to fact check. That's just how it works.
Don Lemon is afraid that Americans will agree with Trump on border security.
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) January 8, 2019
Chris Cuomo admits that wanting a wall isn’t propaganda.
pic.twitter.com/S9PoRZqsyH
“You let him speak, and then you hold him to account,” Cuomo explained to his colleague. “I think that's the right move. I know a lot of people are upset about it. I hear you. I read my Twitter feed. I get it. But I think it's also the right thing to do. And it’s the right thing to do to check him and that’s what we’ll do.”
Cuomo went on to explain that Trump's policies may be different than his or Lemon's, but that doesn't mean they're "immoral."
"By the way, wanting barriers along the border is not propaganda," Cuomo said. "It's not immoral, it's not wrong."
Trump first tweeted his plans to speak on Monday, which caused some reporters to suggest that some major networks had yet to even agree to air the remarks.
According to all our reporting, networks are still deciding this, have NOT agreed. White House is claiming otherwise and it isn't true. They may still end up agreeing, but haven't yet. https://t.co/QKujUlNwib
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 7, 2019
The president will make his case for a border wall at 9 p.m. ET.