 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2017) |
| Real News Update | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Campaign advertising |
| Starring | Lara Trump Kayleigh McEnany Katrina Pierson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 110 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Trump Tower New York, New York |
| Original release | |
| Release | July 30, 2017 (2017-07-30) – March 15, 2020 (2020-03-15) |
Real News Update was a weeklywebcast that lasted from July 30, 2017, to March 15, 2020, to support thePresidency of Donald Trump and his2020 presidential campaign. The show was available on Donald Trump'sFacebook,Twitter andYouTube accounts and was hosted by Donald Trump's daughter-in-law,Lara Trump, wife ofEric Trump. It was presented in the form of a short newscast lasting from one to five minutes and delivered updates on the accomplishments of thePresidency of Donald Trump.[1]
Lara Trump played an integral role in the2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump and was regarded by many as a 'secret weapon' in securing aRepublican Party victory inNorth Carolina that year, in support of her father-in-law.[1][2][3]
FollowingDonald Trump's inauguration in January 2017, she disparaged themainstream news media for excessively negative coverage ofDonald Trump's presidency.[2][4] She also criticizedCNN,ABC,CBS andNBC for refusing to air a May 2017 advertisement that listed President Donald Trump's accomplishments during his first100 days as president.[5]
Lara began work on Donald Trump's re-election effort shortly after hisinauguration, working alongsideMichael Glassner.[2] By March 2017, she was hired as a senior consultant by thedigital vendor for Donald Trump's campaign and would quickly become a prominent figure in his 2020 presidential campaign.[3][6]
Vox has speculated thatReal News may be a partial fulfillment ofDonald Trump's plan to launch his own news network, an idea that has been dubbed 'Trump TV'.[7]
Real News Update launched its first video viaFacebook on July 30, 2017, featuring an introduction by Lara Trump in which she states, "I bet you haven't heard about all the accomplishments the president had this week because there's so much fake news out there. We wanted to give you a glimpse into his week."[8]
In an interview shortly after the show's launch, she explained that the show's objectives were to serve as an outlet for under-reported positive news of Donald Trump's presidency and to curtail the general public's dependence on mainstream media.[1][6]
The show ended in March 2020 around the time of when government restrictions due to theCOVID-19 pandemic began in theUnited States.
The webcasts were funded by theTrump 2020 re-election campaign and filmed in a studio on the 15th floor ofTrump Tower.[9] WhileLara Trump was the primary anchor of the program, various other media and political figures also hosted the show, includingJoy Villa, Steve Rogers, and Harlan Hill.[10][11][12]
Kayleigh McEnany, who later served as PresidentTrump's press secretary, also hosted the program on August 6, 2017, one day after leaving her position atCNN.[13]
Political analystJeff Greenfield likenedReal News Update to the "long and if not entirely noble tradition" of political campaigning,[14] thoughDylan Byers atCNN remarked that it differs from previous political campaign media in seeking to discredit mainstream media and to advertise itself as a reliable alternative.[15]
BuzzFeed andSnopes reported that, despite the stated objectives ofReal News, various news items on the program, such as Trump's donation of his second-quarter salary to theDepartment for Education andFoxconn's plans to build a factory inWisconsin, did, in fact, receive coverage in mainstream media.[16][17]
Digital news websiteSalon criticized the webcast as politicalpropaganda.[18]
Aaron Blake ofThe Washington Post described an episode ofReal News Update as "real spin, at best" and that it "felt a lot like propaganda -- orstate TV."[19]
Comedian andThe Late Show hostStephen Colbert similarly likened the program to "state-sponsored propaganda", and compared it to his show's recurring sketchReal News Tonight—a newscast presented with an exaggerated bias towardsTrump. He proceeded to present an edition of the sketch that was interspersed with clips fromReal News Update, with the anchors referring to Lara as being its new "special correspondent".[20]
And by early 2017, Lara Trump was already working on the re-election effort alongside Michael Glassner, who is running the campaign committee
