Thirty minutes prior to the final presidential debate, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump advertised that he was airing a pre-debate program on Facebook Live. Given rumors that Trump’s son-in-law was shopping Trump for a TV show earlier this week, journalists noted this could be a “preview” of what could come.
On October 17, The New York Times reported that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, “discussed the possibility of a Trump-branded television network with a friend,” floating the idea of setting up a “Trump television channel.” Although neither Kushner nor Trump has confirmed the report, and apparently talks have not progressed beyond informal talks, conversation around this possibility has increased as Trump's support has decreased in the polls.
A half-hour before the October 19 debate began, Trump advertised that he would be holding a Facebook Live event featuring his surrogates discussing the debate. According to Politico’s Blake Hounshell, the event was a “pregame show featuring two campaign surrogates trashing the the media coverage -- not the Republican nominee himself.” Vox’s German Lopez called it a “test-run” of Trump TV and said it was “awful.” Several other journalists noted that Trump was using this opportunity to pilot Trump TV, and the reviews were not necessarily positive:
The Daily Beast's Jackie Kucinich
Trump Network seems to be kicking off on his FB page ... first investment should be in a new mic for @BorisEP
— Jackie Kucinich (@JFKucinich) October 20, 2016
[Twitter, 10/19/16]
MSNBC's Kyle Griffin
Trump TV is real. pic.twitter.com/Y4gURDF2fJ
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 20, 2016
[Twitter, 10/19/16]
The Huffington Post's Christina Wilkie
If you like watching Jan Brewer stop mid-sentence and forget what she was saying, you’re going to love Trump’s new TV station. #debate pic.twitter.com/upOUs2CY4o
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) October 20, 2016
[Twitter, 10/19/16]
CNN's Andrew Kaczynski
Is this a Trump TV preview: pic.twitter.com/8U55CGk9Ay
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) October 20, 2016
[Twitter, 10/19/16]
BuzzFeed News' McKay Coppins
Guys, we're literally witnessing the birth of TrumpTV—the campaign's hosting its own debate preview on Facebook Live https://t.co/JNxbdqW5QG pic.twitter.com/QHJyaIpO8U
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) October 20, 2016
[Twitter, 10/19/16]
Politico's Kelsey M. Sutton
Ivanka Trump asks for campaign donations on Donald Trump's live FB video/Trump TV dry run
— Kelsey M. Sutton (@kelseymsutton) October 20, 2016
[Twiter, 10/19/16]