The dust is starting to settle, uncomfortably for CNN, two days after its controversial town hall with former President Donald Trump. The network has taken fire from both the left and the right — for very different reasons — which has been widely seen as evidence the entire endeavor was a horrific miscalculation.
Or, just maybe, it means CNN got something right.
A veteran cable news personality told me that pissing off the left and right is never a good position to be in. Usually, I’d agree with that sentiment. But I would argue that the anger CNN is seeing from both sides of the partisan spectrum is, in fact, a positive result for not just a network trying to reposition itself but also a divided nation that’s grown far too comfortable in its political silos and thought bubbles.
First of all, Wednesday night’s proceedings should not have surprised anyone. For anyone who has paid any attention to Trump over the past few years, it went exactly as expected.
Trump showed off the boorish behavior his base loves him for. He was an unstoppable trainwreck. The familiar firehose of lies, insults, and victimization that has, since he left office, been limited to social media posts and appearances on friendly outlets. But he also demonstrated a certain skill up on stage. After all, he is a famed entertainer, extremely comfortable with the kayfabe of the current opiniotainment ecosystem.
And yet, much of the fury has not been directed at Trump — this is who he is, after all —but at CNN, for having the audacity to even host the former president of the United States. (A man who, I should note, is very likely the next Republican nominee for president and very possibly the next president of the United States).
The relentless pearl-clutching has exploded not just on Twitter, but also on the air at CNN-rival MSNBC, whose opinion-based hosts are suddenly obsessed with upholding the strictest standards of journalism (standards they don’t follow themselves.) Go back and watch Trump’s regular confabs on Morning Joe and tell me you take Joe Scarborough’s complaints about CNN’s town hall seriously.
During the town hall and over the rest of Wednesday night, CNN staffers spoke out anonymously and furiously against the event. One called it a “disaster.”
The backlash was apparently so strong that CNN’s own top media reporter, Oliver Darcy, summed up the internal and external outrage in a report noting CEO Chris Licht was “facing fury” from within his network, which Licht took over about one year ago.
“It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening,” Darcy wrote in the Reliable Sources newsletter.
That rebuke no doubt influenced Licht’s defense of the town hall during Thursday morning’s network-wide editorial call.
“I absolutely unequivocally believe America was served very well by what we did last night,” Licht was reported saying. He then argued that ignoring Trump or his millions of supporters is not a healthy path forward.
And I have to say, I agree with Licht here.
First, let me just make clear that there is plenty of room for criticism surrounding this event.
The biggest problem was in its execution. My esteemed colleague Joe DePaolo noted in his own column that the audience assembled in the auditorium changed the dynamic significantly. The crowd, by virtue of this being a town hall of mostly Republican voters, was exceedingly pro-Trump. At their worst, they disgustingly laughed and cheered on Trump’s continued defamation of E. Jean Carroll, a woman a New York jury found he sexually abused.
The net result of that environment is that it sometimes felt more like a Trump rally than a news event. Further, it put an unfair burden on host Kaitlan Collins, who was forced to hold Trump to account and fact-check his barrage of lies while a crowd of his supporters cheered him on. Interviewing Trump is a tough task. Doing it in a room packed with his supporters is nearly impossible.
Collins fact-checked Trump more consistently and aggressively than many others over the last seven years. She made one notable mistake in failing to fact-check Trump’s lie that pro-choice activists “kill babies that are alive,” but that comment from Trump came as she sought to move the conversation forward. Given the firehose of bullshit she had to contend with? One missed pitch is a pretty good batting average.
But mainly, Collins was let down by the format. Putting aside those production mistakes, I maintain that hosting Trump and challenging him is precisely what news outlets should do.
Ignoring the former president and presumptive Republican nominee is a stick-your-head-in-the-sand strategy that does nothing to rob him of a platform. Without CNN, Trump will remain in the comfortable confines of Mark Levin and Sean Hannity interviews that allow him to say whatever he wants unchecked — to millions of people.
Trump’s appearance on CNN was the first time he has been fact-checked at length about his stolen election lie. That has value. Sunlight is the best disinfectant — let it shine!
In terms of public service, as Licht noted, the town hall produced actual news.
Because Collins challenged Trump, he revealed newsworthy positions on a number of topics and gave voters — as well as lawmakers — better insight into what kind of president he will be.
Trump absurdly claimed he’d resolve the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 24 hours, but when pressed, he would not commit to backing Ukraine or calling Vladimir Putin a war criminal. Trump dismissed the spate of school shootings and returned to a very pro-gun position, prioritizing Second Amendment rights over the safety of school kids and mall shoppers. Trump refused to say whether he’d sign a federal abortion ban, falsely claimed pro-choice advocates favor killing babies, and suggested he’d be willing to let the U.S. default by not raising the debt ceiling.
Many of his comments appeared to provide further evidence to those investigating him. His remarks on classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago, on January 6th and alleged interference in the Georgia election will almost all be used against him. His smears of Carroll likely open an opportunity for another defamation lawsuit.
His comments at the town hall prompted a series of Republicans in the House and Senate to make clear they would not be backing him for president. And while the crowd may have loved his standup routine mocking his rape accuser, it no doubt reminded many independent voters why they voted him out of office in 2020.
This is America. It includes savvy critical thinkers who can see through Trump’s sophistry and those who cannot. As Licht said on the call, ignoring Trump and his base is not the answer. Giving him a platform to face tough questioning and reveal his true nature is necessary.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
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