Former President Donald Trump’s CNN town hall has proven to be a disaster for the liberal news network. Many saw the event as a big win for Donald Trump and a blow to CNN.
Trump was on top of his game during the town hall and sharper than ever. He displayed his characteristic quick wit and forward-thinking on his feet when questioned by CNN host Katilin Collins. Many believe CNN saw this as an opportunity to invite the former president on their platform and embarrass him in front of a live audience. However, Trump stood his ground and exposed the network.
Breitbart’s John Nolte wrote about the town hall:
CNN is a political outfit, and whether you are a politician, a super PAC, or a lobbying group, the last thing a political outfit can afford is to lose its base of support. Your base is everything, and CNN’s teeny-tiny base is about 450,000 members of the Woke Gestapo and a handful of conservatives who can’t stop hate-watching.
That fact is the real reason last night was a catastrophe for CNN. By handing Trump a forum and allowing Trump to look as good as he did—and he’s never been better—CNN alienated and infuriated its base. Look around. The resentment from the Woke Gestapo is everywhere, and the Woke Gestapo doesn’t forgive.
CNN also took a rating hit after the town hall backfired on them. Before the event, CNN was averaging 494,000 primetime viewers and 111,000 key demographic viewers in the 25-54 age range. Reports show the latest week’s ratings to be:
Saturday, May 13: 278,000 – 74,000
Sunday, May 14: 401,000 – 88,000
Monday, May 15: 485,000 – 117,000
Tuesday, May 16: 397,000 – 80,000
Wednesday, May 17: 460,000 – 115,000
Thursday, May 18: 431,000 – 111,000
Friday, May 19: 350,000 – 73,000
This week’s average ratings total 400,000 primetime viewers and 94,000 key demographic viewers. This is almost a 20 percent drop in total primetime viewership for CNN. MSNBC and Fox News averaged viewership that is well into the millions.
Trump repeatedly owned Kaitlin Collins during the town hall, with moments where he fact-checked statements she was making about him. The American Tribune reported:
At one point in their conversation, Collins repeated the oft-used attack of accusing Trump of encouraging his supporters to “attack” the Capitol on January 6 before claiming that Trump did not tell them to go home until three hours after violence erupted. Never mind clips of the historic day have been edited to remove him urging protestors to peacefully make their voices heard.
“When they went to the Capitol and they were breaking into the Capitol, smashing windows, injuring police officers; why did it take you three hours to tell them to go home?” Collins asked.
“I don’t believe I did…Oh let me pull it out, I have to pull it out,” Trump responded, reaching into his suit jacket and removing a piece of paper.“So if you look at, on January 5 the day before, I said ‘please support our Capitol Police and law enforcement, they truly are on the side of our country. Stay peaceful, stay peaceful.”
Trump then went on to read a number of statements he issued, while a desparate Collins could do nothing except stammer to try to regain control of the lost narrative. “If you look January 6, this is before 2:30: ‘I am asking everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful… this is right after, as it was happening,” Trump said. “But what happened is they took it down, I don’t know… I think they took it down because it was so good they didn’t like it being up there,” Trump continued, drawing laughs from the CNN crowd.
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