A quiet battle has been taking place behind the scenes at the most powerful television networks.

Donald Trump asked these networks to cover his primetime address tonight, during which he will present lies about the 2020 election. He wants to use this time to defame our elections and subvert the upcoming midterms.

The titans of industry who own these networks have been holed up in conference rooms trying to figure out what to do. They know the right thing to do is to tell Trump no. But they have become cowards who want to curry favor with Trump because they believe it will boost their profits.

The three major networks have said that they will not carry the speech on their main networks but will air it on their streaming services.

Mitigating the danger Trump poses to democracy is never the legacy media's priority. It wasn't in 2020, it wasn't in 2022, and it isn't today.

Four years ago, as we headed toward the midterm elections, President Joe Biden went to Independence Hall with an important message for the American people: "Equality and democracy are under assault."

He wanted to warn the public of the growing threat to elections and how Donald Trump and his movement were planning to undermine them. He implored Americans of every ideology to understand this: "Democracy cannot survive when one side believes there are only two outcomes to an election: either they win, or they were cheated. And that's where MAGA Republicans are today."

Yet, despite these important and prophetic words, very few people heard him.

That's because the major networks refused to air the speech. As the Washington Post described it: "As Biden warned about democracy's collapse, TV networks aired reruns."

As they are doing today, the networks in 2022 aired Biden’s remarks on their streaming services. In the eyes of the legacy media, treating Biden’s pro-democracy speech the same as Trump’s lie-filled tirade tonight is “fair.”

Honestly, this represents exactly what is wrong with the legacy media today. Treating the firefighter equally with the arsonist is not fair; it is cowardly.

I started Democracy Docket in 2020 to be unapologetic and unafraid. Day in and day out, it exposes the threats to democracy and to free and fair elections. That is why, now more than ever, we need to keep growing.

Democracy Docket covered Biden's speech — extensively. And every day since, we have been dedicated to covering the attacks on our voting rights and on free and fair elections.

When Biden left office, and Trump once again stepped behind the Resolute Desk, that did not change. As legacy media outlets pulled their punches and wrote checks to Trump, we stood strong in our commitment to expose the threats facing our elections.

We did not cower. We did not back away. We never will.

In 2022, when Joe Biden stood before Independence Hall, our democracy was in critical condition. Now it is in grave danger — and the legacy media is helping Trump send it to an early grave.

That's why supporting media outlets like Democracy Docket is so important. It is fearlessly independent and unapologetically pro-democracy.

And as a subscriber of Democracy Docket, I know you appreciate the work of the Democracy Docket team. So here is my ask: tell your friends and family to subscribe to Democracy Docket. If you're able to, become a premium member.

Your contribution helps power a growing team of 30 committed to exposing the fight for our democracy. It supports and expands the Democracy Docket newsroom and strengthens our news coverage across social media, YouTube, and our daily newsletters.

As we approach the midterms, it is vital that Democracy Docket reach more people and have more influence in the conversation around democracy.

If you can't support our work, I understand. Thank you for being a subscriber and reader. Please continue to share our work and spread the word — it helps more than you know.

But if you can become a premium member, I deeply appreciate it. Your support drives our mission forward, and we couldn't do this without you.

Tonight, as Trump's lies echo into households on every block, we must reckon with this truth: Democracy isn't dying in darkness. It is dying in the light of day, as legacy media moguls decide whose voice will be heard — and whose will be silenced.