CNN’s Performative Bemusement About Trump Is a National Disgrace
The CNN town hall on Wednesday generated criticism before, during and after it aired. Deservedly so.
Of all the ways a news entity can bastardize the industry it purports to represent, it’s hard to imagine sinking lower than CNN pretending its “town hall” with Donald Trump on Wednesday night was rooted in any journalistic mores. The network’s latest ratings grab sought to re-elevate the legitimacy of a despotic, disgraced former president by enlisting its rising star, 31-year-old Kaitlan Collins, to moderate the televised New Hampshire event.
As expected, Collins was less a bashful referee than a must-see-TV rival. Trump peddled his usual dose of disinformation — “It was a perfect call,” he repeated, of his desperate plea to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia — and Collins counterpunched with catechism.
No audience was served by this format.
Trump’s conspiratorial base was encouraged to further erode any remaining empathy for survivors of sexual assault and their belief in the most fundamental ideals of democracy. Trump opponents learned nothing new despite Collins’s barrage of fact checks. Those who have been emboldened by Trump’s demagoguery in his first term won’t be suddenly shaken from their stupor as he mounts a bid for a second. Democrats who’ve tired of Trump’s bigoted refrains are none the wiser from hearing him lean into his misogyny even harder, calling Collins nasty as she stood mere inches from him and defending his reprehensible Access Hollywood tape comments.
But of course, CNN’s CEO Chris Licht knows his primary job is to provide entertainment. The problem is that his company also employs real journalists, many of whom have spoken anonymously to other outlets this week voicing their disgust and frustration that the town hall was even happening in the first place. It’s a reflection of the ethical shortcomings of network news, deploying top-paid personalities to regularly interview and impanel the same ruthless politicians. The on-air conflagrations are inevitable because they help both parties, boosting profiles and funneling donations to malevolent campaigns. It is a grotesque symbiosis and, unfortunately, a staple of primetime television that isn’t going away anytime soon.
Viewers gleaned little Wednesday about Trump‘s plans to support any of his potential future constituents (a theory: he has no plan); instead they were treated to Trump v. Collins, a career pugilist taking on a morning host expected to prove her mettle against the embodiment of sexism in America. Reportedly, Collins is in line to host her own CNN show in the coveted 9 p.m. slot. Asking Collins to go toe-to-toe with Trump in a format that only increases right-wing animosity toward her is evidence the network learned nothing from the Don Lemon debacle.
In the never-ending jostle for eyeballs, CNN won’t be the only channel in the run-up to the 2024 election gifting Trump with the runway he needs to nudge every other Republican contender out of frame. It seems the only thing that will coerce network executives into diverting from their deluded model is an authoritarian regime that guts every outlet not showering the administration with praise and supplants skilled journalists with cronies in every pocket of a media ecosystem already gasping for air.
Trump has been good for CNN’s bottom line in the past. But the general consensus is that the town hall was an epic failure. Licht can do the right thing and change course, to try and win back support internally and reverse the narrative surrounding his flailing stewardship since replacing Jeff Zucker a year ago.
Another option: CNN can continue to hand Trump the screen time he wants and see what happens when he regains power. It should be painfully obvious by now but continues to be an overlooked possibility for the most influential media figures in America.
Donald Trump never returns the favor.
The standing ovation in the beginning set the ugly mood right from the start. I couldn’t handle more than a few minutes