All political commentators have agreed that CNN’s townhall with Donald Trump on Wednesday was a failure for the network.
Oliver Darcy of CNN joined the fray by putting together a self-owned backlash in a media newsletter he published on Thursday morning. Darcy reported that Trump had won the night and his old enemy CNN suffered a major loss.
CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter features a whole list of critical tweets of the network’s town hall with Trump pic.twitter.com/FU3Z2r5lXr
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) May 11, 2023
Trump’s media critics were already upset about the event, even before it took place. especially at MSNBC.
This is not journalism. It is entertainment. MSNBC burns CNN for hosting an event with Trump. (Video: MSNBC) pic.twitter.com/U86SDZ4zjj
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 9, 2023
But CNN—desperate to reverse the ongoing collapse of its ratings since Trump left office—insisted it had a journalistic obligation to question the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. CNN chairman Chris Licht saw the townhall as an opportunity to reset relations with Trump who hadn’t appeared on the network.
