As Trump Coronavirus Handling Hits 60 Percent Approval,

Taxpayer Funded NPR Station Says Won’t Air White House Briefings on Crisis

A National Public Radio station, KUOW-FM in Seattle, Washington has announced it will not air President Trump’s daily White House coronavirus task force press briefings, saying the decision is “due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time.” KUOW is a college radio station owned by the University of Washington with translators and repeaters airing in Bellingham, Olympia and Tumwater.

President Trump spars with NBC reporter Peter Alexander during the daily White House coronavirus briefing, March 20, screen image.

The announcement by KUOW came the same day as Trump’s approval rating for his handling of the COVID-19 Chinese coronavirus has soared, with the Gallup poll released Monday having it at 60 percent, with Trump’s overall job approval up five points to 49 percent. Trump’s leadership of the daily televised briefings has given the American people an unfiltered view of Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and the team they have assembled to fight the virus. The briefings have also exposed the public to the insolent disrespectful behavior of many members of the White House press corps.

A campaign to stop live broadcasts of Trump’s briefings began late last week among liberal in the media as polls started to show a growing majority of Americans approving of Trump’s handling of the crisis. Those calling to censor Trump were MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and the Washington Post’s media columnist Margaret Sullivan.

KUOW made the announcement on Monday via Twitter.

“KUOW is monitoring White House briefings for the latest news on the coronavirus — and we will continue to share all news relevant to Washington State with our listeners. (1)…However, we will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time. (2)”