Behind the scenes at OAN: The TV network where Trump is always right

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Coupled with its social media presence, OAN “exists as part of a larger network within the propaganda ecosystem,” one that’s legitimised by a real-life cable news channel, he said. At the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference, Charles Herring – Mr Herring’s son – announced the beginnings of the One America News Network, promising a “reliable, credible, fact-based” platform “where more voices can be heard – voices that are ignored, libertarian and conservative voices.” Ostensibly engineered to avoid the roundtable effect on cable competitors, where a single story draws focus across several hours of programming, OAN would mimic the “fast-paced” online news cycle with a multitude of stories aired throughout the day. “We should always respect the office.” Inside the White House Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and “pizzagate” conspiracy theorist and alt-right figure Jack Posobiec are among the network’s alumni, but its most visible personality is Chanel Rion, the network’s chief White House correspondent, a staple at briefings where she offers leading, conspiracy-laden questions that often tee up canned responses from the president and his press secretary. Nothing is further from the truth and her propagated falsehood has hurt our integrity and viewership trust.” In a now-retracted OAN segment from 7 May, Mr Rouz amplified a conspiracy theory claiming that the patent for the Covid-19 drug treatment remdesivir – which has been used by the president – is controlled by the Chinese government, Bill Gates, the World Health Organisation and the Clintons, “allegedly backed by globalist billionaire George Soros.” On Monday’s prime-time programme In Focus with Stephanie Hammill, the host said that the president’s recent departure from Walter Reed while hospitalised “is making members of the radical left and their media sycophants apoplectic.” “I think it’s great he’s being so transparent with his health,” she said.