CNN explains why it refused to air Trump’s 100-day ad

Donald J. Trump.

CNN said Tuesday that it refused to air President Donald Trump’s 100-day ad because it contained a graphic referring to the mainstream media as “fake news.”

The news network released a statement on the ad after the Trump campaign blasted it for censoring the spot.

The ad, which listed off accomplishments from Trump’s first 100 days in office, included a graphic that labeled a series of news anchors, including CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, as “fake news.”

“CNN requested that the advertiser remove the false graphic that says the mainstream media is ‘fake news,'” the network said in a statement. “The mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false. Per our policy, it will be accepted only if that graphic is deleted. Those are the facts.”

The Trump campaign called CNN’s refusal to air the ad “shameful” in a statement earlier Tuesday. The campaign spent $1.5 million to air the ad “on television in major markets throughout the United States as well as target specific voting groups online.”

“It is absolutely shameful to see the media blocking the positive message that President Trump is trying to share with the country,” Michael Glassner, executive director of the Trump campaign, said. “It’s clear that CNN is trying to silence our voice and censor our free speech because it doesn’t fit their narrative.”

The campaign release said CNN took “issue with the ad’s message calling out the mainstream media for peddling fake news and not reporting on the fact that President Trump is making America great again.”

Trump has repeatedly lambasted the mainstream media even as he provides extensive and in-depth interview opportunities to many of those same outlets. However, his animosity toward CNN goes unmatched. He’s repeatedly labeled the outlet as “fake news” for its critical reporting of his administration, and during his 2016 campaign for president, he called CNN the “Clinton News Network” in reference to his then-opponent Hillary Clinton.