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CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil clashed with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., during a live special report Thursday night after President Donald Trump’s White House address, as Warner accused the network of presenting disputed election claims without enough pushback.
“I was embarrassed that the President of the United States went before our whole country, and networks like yours carried this as news, as opposed to a rehash of falsehoods,” Warner said. “And it is incumbent upon you and any responsible journalist to push back on these falsehoods.”
Dokoupil attempted to interject, but Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, continued and appeared to refer to the November midterms.
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“He’s going to lose a free and fair election,” Warner said.
After Warner finished, Dokoupil pushed back, arguing CBS had brought the Virginia Democrat on specifically to scrutinize the president’s assertions and had provided fact-checking and analysis throughout its coverage.
“You are calling for context and analysis and pushback,” Dokoupil said. “You are on the show right now giving it, and acting as though it’s not happening.”
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Trump opened his roughly 25-minute address by touting the economy, border security and prescription drug prices before turning to elections. He announced the release of the previously classified intelligence that he argued exposed weaknesses in election infrastructure.
“Tonight, I’m announcing the immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure,” Trump said.
The White House posted materials on China’s acquisition of American voter data, electronic voting systems, a Michigan voter-registration investigation and non-citizens on state voter rolls. Trump alleged China acquired 220 million U.S. voter files beginning during the 2020 election cycle.
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“First, they show that over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history,” he said.
CBS later published a fact check characterizing the claim as misleading, noting much voter information is public and citing a 2020 CISA-FBI bulletin that said acquiring voter-registration data did not affect voting or election results. The network also challenged Trump’s allegations about voting machines, non-citizens and mail ballots.
Trump used the disclosures to urge Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which he said would require photo identification and proof of citizenship for federal elections and sharply restrict mail voting.
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“Most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the Save America Act,” Trump said.
Fox News Digital reported the measure passed the House in February but stalled in the Senate in March when a 53-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes required to advance it.
Warner closed by again challenging journalists to reject claims he described as disconnected from the truth.
“If we don’t step up and you guys as journalists and people across the political aisle stand up and say, our election integrity is too important to mess around with, then shame on all of us,” he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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