Trump insults NBC and claims he's being 'set up' by the town hall he wanted

President Trump has one thing in common with Ava DuVernay, Aaron Sorkin, and Mandy Moore right now — none of them are pleased with NBC's Thursday night programming.

Speaking to supporters on Thursday afternoon, Trump launched into a typical meandering rant accusing media outlets of bias against him, despite the hourslong town hall granted to him by NBC after he refused to participate in a virtual presidential debate. Calling NBC, the home of his former show The Apprentice, "the worst," Trump insulted the network at length, as well as anchor Savannah Guthrie, who will moderate his Thursday night town hall event.

Confusingly, Trump also claimed "I'm being set up tonight" by the apparent haters at NBC. As The New York Times Wajahat Ali noted, Trump is only having the town hall by choice after bailing on the official debate.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

However, in a prime example of Trump's "saying the quiet part out loud," the president wrapped up his tirade against NBC by remarking, "I figured, what the hell, we get a free hour on television." He promised the rallygoers in Greenville, North Carolina, plenty of "entertainment" if they tune in.

In addition to his comments on the town hall, Trump made some false claims about Dr. Anthony Fauci, asserted the coronavirus is "going to peter out" soon even without a vaccine, and seemingly boasted about ordering the U.S. Marshals to carry out an alleged extrajudicial killing. Just another day on the campaign trail.