The network initially told multiple 'Democratic aides' that it did not intend to air Trump's speech live on national TV, sources told Status.
Anchor Tony Dokoupil also directed viewers toward the network's streaming platform and not the linear channel during his Evening News signoff around 7pm.
An abrupt about-face paved the way for the 8pm CBS announcement stating otherwise just an hour before the speech began, sources said.
The network knew the Thursday address would contain falsehoods about the 2020 election after an off-the-record White House briefing on the address, the Daily Mail understands.
Dokoupil warned at its outset, 'much of what the President had said on this topic has been false.
'Most notably, of course, the claim that he won the 2020 election, when of course he did not.'
Some rigorous fact-checking followed, after CBS aired the 17-minute speech for 15 minutes.
CBS News abandoned plans to not air Donald Trump's primetime address to the nation about the 2020 Presidential Election at the eleventh hour, network sources told StatusThe 17-minute speech was riddled with falsehoods about the contest being compromised. NBC and ABC chose to avoid a linear broadcast
CBS News has been plagued by accusations of pandering to the President since Paramount CEO David Ellison appointed Bari Weiss as its editor-in-chief late last year.
The Status piece pointed out how CNN media reporter Brian Stelter received word earlier in the day that the network was weighing coverage options.
Sources told the outlet those talks did not include airing Trump's remarks live on linear TV.
Sources told Stelter that the plan was to have Dokoupil on standby to track the speech and then air a special surrounding anything newsworthy later in the hour.
Unnamed staffers who spoke to Status said the final approach to coverage caught 'a lot of people' off-guard. They were also under the impression the network was set to only stream the special.
CBS News President Tom Cibrowski, however, said on Wednesday that the network might carry the address.
The Daily Mail understands a meeting was also held that day in the interest of coming to a decision.
CBS News has been plagued by accusations of pandering to the president since Paramount appointed Bari Weiss as its editor-in-chief in October
The decision eventually made was criticized by Democratic Sen. Mark Warner on-air. He told Dokoupil that any 'responsible journalist' would 'push back on these falsehoods.'
'We agree, you and I, that this is a vitally, vitally important topic, and the President has a terrible track record on it,' a diplomatic Dokoupil responded.
The rest of the CBS hour sought to provide context from experts, several of whom pushed back on Trump's claims.
Trump reiterated his belief that voting machines in 2020 had been rigged against him, leading Fox News's correspondent Aishah Hasnie to warn as the network aired the speech in full: 'Fox News has not seen that evidence yet and is not in a position to evaluate the accuracy of the President’s statement and claims at this time.'
Anchor Bret Baier similarly said: 'Fox News has not seen that documentation yet and is not in a position to assess the accuracy of the President’s statements tonight.'
MS NOW also aired the speech, before cutting away at the 15-minute mark as CBS did.
Trump gives primetime speech, addresses election security | full coverage
President Trump delivered a primetime speech from the White House, where sources said he would allege Chinese meddling in the 2020 election. #news #livenews #breakingnews #trump #donaldtrump CBS News 24/7 is the premier anchored streaming news service from CBS News and Stations that is available free to everyone with access to the internet and is the destination for breaking news, live events, original reporting and storytelling, and programs from CBS News and Stations’ top anchors and correspondents working locally, nationally and around the globe. It is available on more than 30 platforms across mobile, desktop and connected TVs for free, as well as CBSNews.com and Paramount+ and live in 91 countries. Subscribe to the CBS News YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/cbsnews Watch CBS News: https://cbsnews.com/live/ Download the CBS News app: https://cbsnews.com/mobile/ Follow CBS News on Instagram: https://instagram.com/cbsnews/ Like CBS News on Facebook: https://facebook.com/cbsnews Follow CBS News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbsnews Subscribe to our newsletters: https://cbsnews.com/newsletters/ Try Paramount+ free: https://paramountplus.com/?ftag=PPM-05-10aeh8h For video licensing inquiries, contact: [email protected]
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CBS has since been subject to an extreme overhaul.
Sources told Status last month that they believed Weiss had damaged the CBS brand over the past nine months with her changes.
One CBS News staffer told the publication: 'The problem is clearly Bari. We are all trying to clean this up, but we need Ellison’s help.'
The Daily Mail has approached CBS News for comment.
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