CNN has been accused of inciting violence against Donald Trump after the network said an Obama appointee would take over if the president-elect was killed at his inauguration.

Wednesday's startling report, titled 'Disaster could put Obama appointee in Oval Office,' speculated on what might happen if Trump, Mike Pence and the Congressional leaders were all killed during the ceremony.

During the segment they also used scenes from ABC show 'Designated Survivor', which depicts what would happen if the Capitol building - the venue for Trump's swearing in - was bombed and the Commander-in-chief killed.

The report concluded that a Democrat would take the vice-president's place in the White House in the event of such an attack, worrying some that venomous anti-Trump protesters might attempt a treasonous attack on the event.

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Fury: Viewers accused CNN of treason and inciting violence after the station reported that if Trump is killed at the inauguration, an Obama-picked successor would become president

'Contemptible': Some said that the station was inciting violence against the president-elect with its report on the presidential line of succession

'Suggestive': This user - who branded himself a 'deplorable' after Clinton's election-campaign insult - questioned whether CNN was actively sending out coded messages to would-be killers

Flagged: Some users 'flagged' the video, which was hosted on YouTube, with the site's content managers, saying it might pose a threat to the president-elect

Critics suggested that's exactly what CNN - which was derided as the 'Clinton News Network' during the Trump election campaign, and denied questions at his recent press conference - is hoping for.

'Totally not suggesting anything here, huh CNN?' said YouTube user 'Donnie Brasco', who identified himself as one of 'Les Deplórables'.

Alexa Vasquez said she had flagged the video with YouTube's complaints department for 'inciting violence', while Uniblonder described the network as 'disgusting, traitorous'.

'I flagged this video as dangerous to the president elect, and that it might foment violence,' agreed ThrummerOfLove.

'Did the same,' said Lemon Goat. 'CNN wants it to happen. Wouldn't be surprised if they pay someone with cash.'

More critics suggested that the moves by Democrat Representatives, including John Lewis, not to attend the inauguration, might imply a plot was already in the making.

'Over 60 dem's aren't attending,' X7Maverick said. 'You tell me what they are trying to incite.'

The report explained that if the President and Vice President are killed, the position is passed down a chain of succession that starts with the speaker of the house, then the president pro tempore of the Senate.

If they're killed then it moves down the secretaries of the Cabinet, starting with the Secretary of State. But if all of them are killed while gathered at the inauguration, the country is leaderless.

Guarded: The election event will be heavily guarded and under immense security - including this bullet-proof parade stand. But that hasn't calmed the nerves of some CNN viewers

For this reason, one of those secretaries is to be kept away from the ceremony under armed guard to a secure government facility, to act as the 'designated presidential successor'.

And, CNN said, that person - whose identity will not be revealed before the event - will be an Obama appointee, since none of Trump's successors have been sworn in yet.

In the event of a successor taking over, laws call for special congressional elections that would take months - a 'mess', according to something political scholar Norm Ornstein in The Washington Post.

The concept of the designated successor forms the basis of Designated Survivor, the ABC drama starring Kiefer Sutherland.

In that series he plays a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development who is made president after everyone in the line of succession is killed during a bombing attack on the Capitol building during a State of the Union address.

Inspiration: The concept inspired TV show Designated Survivor, in which major US politicians are killed in the Capitol, leading to Kiefer Sutherland's low-level undersecretary becoming president. The CNN report avoided using images of the burned-out Capitol (left)

THE LINE OF SUCCESSION The 1947 Presidential Succession Act lists who will be made president in the event that higher members of office are killed. The order is based on when the offices were created, which means that the Secretary of Homeland Security - arguably one of the people best fit for the position - is last. Their length of term is 'until the expiration of the then-current presidential term' - though it's not clear how that would work in an attack during the transition of power. Vice President Speaker of the House of Representatives President pro tempore of the Senate Secretary of State Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of Defense Attorney General Secretary of the Interior Secretary of Agriculture Secretary of Commerce Secretary of Labor Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Secretary of Transportation Secretary of Energy Secretary of Education Secretary of Veterans Affairs Secretary of Homeland Security Advertisement

The law states that the secretaries must have been 'appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate' before they are allowed to take the position.