CNN Sends Cease and Desist Letter to Trump Campaign over Misleading Ad

CNN Sends Cease and Desist Letter to Trump Campaign over Misleading Ad

CNN’s parent company, WarnerMedia, has sent a cease and desist letter to the Trump campaign after a new ad aired featuring deceptively edited footage of network anchor Wolf Blitzer and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The ad – called ‘American Comeback’ – falsely implies that Blitzer and Gupta are speaking approvingly of President Donald Trump’s China travel ban.

The ad cuts off the context of the conversation, which clearly shows that the two men are discussing social distancing measures and stay-at-home, not the President’s travel restrictions.

Associate general counsel for WarnerMedia Rick D. McMurty wrote to the Trump campaign saying “the advertisement purposely and deceptively edits the clip to imply that Mr. Blitzer and Dr. Gupta were crediting the President’s travel ban policy issued in January for saving millions of American lives, when in fact Mr. Blitzer and Dr. Gupta were discussing recently implemented social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders issued by state and local governments.”

“CNN hereby demands that you discontinue airing the advertisement with the CNN clip that has been distorted in such a way as to mislead the public,” the letter says.

Unsurprisingly, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh was unapologetic.

“No discussion of efforts to prevent American deaths from the coronavirus can be had without the understanding that President Trump restricted travel from China in January. Based on that alone, the ad is accurate,” Murtaugh said.

CNN will not show the ad on its network. This is not the first time the news channel has rejected a Trump campaign ad for being misleading.

Darragh Roche

Darragh Roche is Political Media Editor

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