Trump campaign hits local TV station with cease-and-desist over coronavirus ad

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: NBC News

Alex Seitz-Wald

11h ago / 8:56 PM EDT

Trump campaign hits local TV station with cease-and-desist over coronavirus ad

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has sent a cease-and-desist letter to a TV station in Michigan over a Democratic super PAC ad that they say misleadingly accuses Trump of being soft on China at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump’s campaign earlier this month sued a Wisconsin TV station and sent cease-and-desist letters to other swing-state TV stations over an ad from a different Democratic super PAC, Priorities USA. The latest cease-and-desist letter, obtained by NBC News, targets WOOD, an NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and demands the station stop running “a false, misleading, and deceptive advertisement” produced by an offshoot of the Democratic group American Bridge.

The ad, which Trump also attacked in a tweet, accuses Trump of trusting China even though, the narrator says, “everyone knew they lied about the virus.” And it suggests the Trump administration shipped 17 tons of medical supplies the U.S. now needs to China in the early days of the outbreak, before it was widespread in the United States.

The Trump campaign said the State Department merely helped manage logistics for the shipment of medical supplies by using chartered planes that were bound for China to repatriate Americans and would have flown empty otherwise. Instead, the planes carried goods donated by a group of charities and businesses.

American Bridge, however, noted how the Trump administration publicly touted the shipment and pointed to Trump's repeated praise for China’s response to the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic. In response to Trump's criticism, the group said it would put an additional “six figures” behind the ad to run it on digital platforms.

“We will not be intimidated by his gang of lawyers, and we will not relent in our mission to make sure voters have the facts straight on Donald Trump," American Bridge President Bradley Beychok said.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/live-blog/2020-04-22-coronavirus-news-n1189306/ncrd1190096#blogHeader

---

Hat tip, Popehat

== == == ==

UntakenCareOfHat Retweeted

https://twitter.com/Popehat

Trump campaign hits local TV station with cease-and-desist over coronavirus ad.

Link to tweet

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Analyst after analyst on TV has said they don't trust China's numbers all along

because they don't add up, they pause, they resume, they fall off a cliff.

The guy who thinks elections are rigged trusts China's numbers!! Seriously!

[woodsprite]

2. If those stations show Trump's pressers

And his rally’s, there is no reason they shouldn’t show these ads even if they weren’t true.

If they have to comply by not showing the ads, they shouldn’t cover Trump anymore either.

[Scarsdale]

5. Very true.

On a daily basis tRump spews propaganda FREE on TV, during his re-election rallies. He advertises them as "updates on the virus" but we all know what they really are. During the previous "election" he got millions of $$$ of free publicity on Morning Joe farce. He should leave these "updates" to the experts, and PAY for his own advertising for re-election. On the other hand, people are seeing the REAL tRump, and not many seem to think he is credible. So six of one, half a dozen of the other.

[certainot]

8. not to mention about $5BIL/yr FREE talk radio support

at $1000/hr x 15 hrs/day x 1200 radio stations

they all follow the limbaugh lead - his friend, neighbor, and main advisor

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Desperation Has A Distinct Odor

We're smelling that right now.
Hey, Donnie-boy's lawyers: please review "Lock her up!"

[Jamastiene]

4. Trump and his myopic power grabs

are transparent. All he is thinking about is getting reelected. This country cannot take four more years of that creep.

[mucifer]

6. This is bad. I hope they still play the ads. Repubs always get away with lying in their ads.

Dems tell the truth and trump intimidates the tv stations.

[oldsoftie]

7. More bullshit from a bullshitter. nt

[HuskyOffset]

9. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in a lawsuit

isn’t one allowed discovery to defend oneself? Isn’t that a stadium sized bag of worms for one D Trump?

[progressoid]

14. It'll never get that far.

This is just bullying. They're hoping the stations will back down with the threat of a lawsuit.

[tinrobot]

21. It is exactly what he does to his contractors

The legal fees become so outrageous, most people can't afford to go to court.

[Bengus81]

10. Fuck you Trump,if you have a case then SUE for slander...

But that's just it, Spanky and the thugs that run his election have nothing so they try this scare tactic.

So...every Democratic ad needs to be approved by the Fuehrer??

[melm00se]

11. While the FCC (for over the air broadcasters)

has a myriad of regulations that apply to political advertising, the only content that is required is the normal disclaimer that is seen on all electioneering ads:

Authorized and financed by campaign
Authorized but not financed by campaign
Not authorized or financed by campaign
Party committee coordinated communications on behalf of candidate
etc.

This does not preclude the ability of a candidate (or private person) to assert a claim of libel or slander. But a public figure has to meet an extremely high bar to win a libel/slander claim.

While I cannot find it in the FCC regs, I am almost 100% sure that the broadcaster is forbidden from making any substantive edits to the advertising except in case of size or timing (ie, a 33 second political commercial can be trimmed to fit a 30 second window). Additionally, the outlet must make available commercial time to any candidate running for federal office.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

15. Statutes and Rules on Candidate Appearances & Advertising

Statutes and Rules on Candidate Appearances & Advertising

[pampango]

12. Wait! The Trump campaign wants TV stations to censor political ads that contain false information.

What ads do they plan on using? Methinks they are shooting themselves in the foot with this lawsuit. When they use their huge campaign warchest for political ads, I hazard a guess that they don't want TV stations refusing to run them because they contain (as they always do) factually false information.

[catbyte]

13. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that WOODTV-8 ran the ad because Grand Rapids is owned by Amway.

Good for them.

[flibbitygiblets]

22. Wait - Amway is still a thing?

I thought that pyramid scam went away in the early '80s. Huh.

Yup, Googled it, it's still a thing. "Amway and its sister companies under Alticor reported sales of $8.8 billion in 2018. It conducts business through a number of affiliated companies in more than a hundred countries and territories. Amway has been investigated in various countries and by institutions such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)..."

[catbyte]

25. Every other building in Grand Rapids is named for De Vos or Van Andel, the founders of that

pyramid scheme. Off the top of my head, here are some buildings in downtown Grand Rapids named after them:

Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
Van Andel Arena
De Vos Performance Hall
Helen De Vos Children's Hospital
De Vos Place Convention Center
Cook De Vos Center for Health Sciences (GVSU)

There are others, but I just can't think of them now. They throw money around, but they make damned sure everybody knows it which I think is tacky. I'm so glad I moved. It was annoying seeing their names all over the place.

[flibbitygiblets]

26. Ah, it all makes sense now. Thanks for the education, catbyte!

[Grokenstein]

16. "The truth? The truth? I can't handle the truth!!"

[dbonds]

17. Is trump pledging to be truthful for this campaign?

[Roy Rolling]

18. Take It to Court

Trump’s words on paper (written by his mouthpieces) are as useless as his spoken words. So now he sends a letter saying he has a case of the vapors? Take it to court.

Let the discovery begin...

[qwlauren35]

19. FactCheck

I saw a FactCheck on the American Bridge ad, and it is considered misleading and inaccurate.

I wish people would stick with showing how what Trump said and what happened are different, but get all of the facts straight and clear.

[flibbitygiblets]

23. This👆

Most of what Tronald Dump says is a total lie, there's so much material to use. Just why??? Anything that's not 100% verifiable just hurts us.

[Firestorm49]

20. They ignore subpoenas. We ignore cease and desist orders.

It’s not right either way, but it looks like this is becoming the new America - laws that apply by party needs.

[generalbetrayus]

24. Given the Potomac River Killer's long history of threatening lawsuits,

maybe we should be calling him the Boy Named Sue.

[flibbitygiblets]

27. "Donnie-Sue, git yer lazy, lyin' ass offa the tee-vee!"

[JohnnyRingo]

28. The PAC's lawyers seem confident.

Trump's usual threats of litigation don't appear to be working this time so the ad must be factual enough to avoid monetary punishment.

I expect more of this as the campaign progresses. Trump using lawyers to declare ads false then dropping legal action.

[BComplex]

33. I hope he goes broke paying those lawyers.

And I hope the courts don't give him the time of day.

[dmr]

35. The thing is he gets others to foot his legal bill's. Like the RNC or

his campaign. Back when they started the 2016 Russian investigation, the RNC was paying not only Trump's, but Junior's, too.

I don't remember for what legal troubles it was, but they were paid for by his campaign donations.

Plus, he was well-known, as a businessman, not pay his attorneys. Hell, he stiffs everyone and their brother.

I don't see how anything has changed. He's very litigious. What does he care? He'll just continue to grift and stiff.

[maxrandb]

29. Democrats should have been suing the ever-loving-shit out of local Hate Radio stations

I'm tired of playing softball.

Even though this suit will probably go nowhere, that's not their point.

They want to make this station decide to either go broke through massive legal costs, or get in line.

With the majorities that Democrats have in the big, blue economic powerhouse urban areas, that majority ought to be harnessed to boycott and sue the dogshit out of local Hate Radio stations.

Without Hate Radio, you couldn't find two Retrumplicans to rub together in a public mens room,. (thank former Retrumplican Senator Larry Craig for this reference)

[CaptYossarian]

30. The good news is they aren't too happy with us either.

Let's keep it up, people.

[Grins]

31. Taking on a small station in Grand Rapids, MI, population 200,000

So brave.

Now do NBC in New York.

[BComplex]

32. These cease and desist orders CANNOT STAND through the election.

What are they going to do? Only allow anti-trump ads that are FOR trump? They're fucking crazy, and the courts should not allow this!

[Warpy]

34. Not worth the paper it's printed pn or the billable hour or so

from one of his stable of crooked lawyers. The only logical response is a Bronx cheer, a juicy one.

This is how Orange Excrescence will end, squandering every dime he's stolen on crooked lawyers to sue every single media figure, politician, and online crank (me) for dissing him during his pResidency. Getting laughed out of court won't bother him, it's all about ruining lives, even temporarily.

[colsohlibgal]

36. They Have No Case

The Truth is the Truth.

If he had heeded the early warnings rather than ignoring or dismissing them we wouldn’t be sheltering in place, wearing masks, and storing hundreds or thousands of bodies in frozen semis.

You can imagine how differently this would have played out under a smart confident President or even Bush Jr who was a rocket scientist compared to Twittler.

[Blue Owl]

37. K&R for exposure