By, Haley K. ’20
Roughly 40 million Americans tuned in on January 8, 2019 to witness President Trump’s network prime time at the Oval Office. All major networks broadcasted his address at 9:01 p.m. He allotted almost 10 minutes of his first Oval Office address on air to recycling his usual border control beliefs as an explanation for the government shutdown that ended on January 22. “I made sure to watch his address so that I could understand his reasoning behind the shutdown. I was curious to see how he would defend his policies on a national stage,” said Sarah A.R. ’20.
The debate surrounding his broadcast was whether news outlets should provide free airtime for an official to promote a political agenda and whether it should be live or prerecorded. The issue was hotly contested on Twitter in the days leading up to the broadcast. Below are some opinions shared:
Carol Roth (radio host, author, investor):
Nicolle Wallace (Independent party):
Larry Sabato (Democratic party):
Lisa Boothe (Republican party):
Ezra Klein (Democratic party):
Trump later thanked his Twitter fans “for soooo many nice comments.”
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