CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale accused NBC anchor Tom Llamas of largely failing to correct President Trump’s repeated ‘‘long-debunked’’ claims during a wide-ranging interview. Dale praised one strong pushback on a polling claim but said many inaccurate statements — notably about inflation and price trends — went unchallenged. He warned that viewers watching live or via social clips were left without immediate factual corrections, though NBC later published a fact-check on its website.
Daniel Dale Criticizes NBC’s Tom Llamas For Letting Trump’s 'Long‑Debunked' Claims Pass
CNN chief fact-checker Daniel Dale publicly rebuked NBC News anchor Tom Llamas for largely failing to correct President Donald Trump’s repeated ‘‘long-debunked’’ claims during a wide-ranging interview that aired Wednesday. The sit-down — which covered inflation, immigration and election integrity — was posted in an extended form on NBC’s Top Story With Tom Llamas YouTube channel.
Dale acknowledged that Llamas did press the president at least once — on a claim about having ‘‘great’’ economic polls — calling that exchange ‘‘a textbook moment in political interviewing.’p>
President Trump kept telling long-debunked lies. An NBC anchor kept ignoring them.
But Dale argued that, outside this example, the interview featured numerous unchallenged assertions. He noted that, at several points, Llamas responded to inaccurate statements with quick affirmations like 'right' or 'yeah,' or did not push back at all. That approach, Dale wrote, left viewers watching on television and social media without immediate corrective context on important policy issues.
Examples Dale Highlighted
Polling Exchange: Dale praised the moment Llamas pressed Trump on his polling comment, which led Trump to rephrase his claim that polls "should be great."
Inflation And Prices: In an exchange about inflation, Trump cited multiple figures and sweeping claims about price trends that Dale says were inaccurate. Llamas frequently let those statements pass with short acknowledgments rather than offering immediate contradiction or fact-based pushback. Dale singled out a claim that only "very few" product prices have stubbornly refused to fall, noting Llamas initially responded, 'Yeah, very few. I get it,' a reply that could read as tacit agreement.
Context And Caveats
Dale conceded that rapid-fire falsehoods are challenging for any interviewer to manage, especially in limited-access interviews controlled by the White House. He also noted NBC published a related fact check on its website addressing several of Trump’s claims. Nevertheless, Dale argued that on-air, moment-by-moment corrections are valuable because many viewers rely on live broadcasts and short social clips for information.
Read Dale's full fact-check on CNN.com for a detailed breakdown of specific claims and their veracity.
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