Trump TV debuts ... sort of
Donald Trump's campaign is starting a nightly live broadcast via Facebook, and will continue to stream a show every night until the end of the election.
After that? Well, it might come down to who wins. There's already plenty of speculation that Trump's post-election plans (assuming he loses) will include capitalizing on his power in the conservative world with a new media company.
News of the Trump campaign show broke late Monday afternoon less than an hour before the first show was slated to go live. The first show is scheduled to air at 6:30 p.m. ET.
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Trump's campaign has recently hosted two livestreams on Facebook. In the first, Trump spoke with women who had accused Bill Clinton of assault. The second was more like a news show, which the new Trump campaign stream sounds like it will draw on.
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Trump campaign advisers Boris Epshteyn Cliff Sims will be hosting the show and talk to various guests. Tomi Lahren, host of a show for The Blaze will also contribute an opinion piece at the ended entitled "Final Thoughts."
"Join us LIVE at 6:30pmE! Our nightly campaign coverage from Trump Tower!This is a HISTORIC movement. Together, we will once again make a government by, for, and of the people! Help us close out the final weeks of this campaign strong and WIN," the Trump campaign wrote in a Facebook post.
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Speculation and anonymously-sourced articles that Trump will launch a media company after the election have circulated for months. A media startup theoretically would help Trump capitalize on his newfound status as an alt-right icon — something he may need as his other businesses reportedly suffer from a decline in the mainstream appeal of the Trump brand.
Trump has routinely attacked the media for its coverage of his campaign, more recently accusing media outlets of being part of a broader conspiracy to fix the election.
Epshteyn told Wired that Trump's livestream would be a way for his campaign to skip the media and take its message directly to voters.
He also denied the livestream was a precursor to a new Trump media company.
“We all know how strong the left wing media bias is. This is us delivering our message to voters,” Epshteyn reportedly said. “It has nothing to do with Trump TV. It’s about using 21st century technology and communication in a way that’s effective.”
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As of Tuesday morning, the first livestream had logged 1.3 million views.
Topics Facebook Donald Trump Elections
Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
