Democrats and media watchers blasted CNN Wednesday night over the networks combative, lie-filled town hall with former President Donald Trump .
Moderator Kaitlan Collins attempted to rein in Trump as he stood by his denial of the results from the 2020 presidential election, rejected the lawsuit that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation against the writer E. Jean Carroll, and defended his decision to take classified documents to Florida after his presidency.
But Collins struggled to fact-check the former president in real-time, and many sharply criticized CNN for putting Trump on-air at all. At one point, Trump called Collins a nasty person as she tried to get an answer to a question.
the CNN town hall audience laughs as Trump smears E Jean Carroll pic.twitter.com/HIokiAqIom
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Aaron Rupar","author_url":"https://twitter.com/atrupar","cache_age":86400,"description":"the CNN town hall audience laughs as Trump smears E Jean Carroll pic.twitter.com/HIokiAqIom Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2023\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_hide_thread":{"label":"Hide previous Tweet in conversation thread","value":true},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1656455517798121474/pu/img/lzxvGku3_0z9iVC4.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Aaron Rupar on 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E Jean Carroll pic.twitter.com/HIokiAqIom
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2023
Put almost none of it on Collins. Nobody could manage a serial liar sexual predator authoritarian with an audience hand-picked to cheer on his most insane and offensive comments.
That was a decision her bosses made. https://t.co/rNdLetk4Fm
Put almost none of it on Collins. Nobody could manage a serial liar sexual predator authoritarian with an audience hand-picked to cheer on his most insane and offensive comments.
Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) May 11, 2023
That was a decision her bosses made. https://t.co/rNdLetk4Fm
Tonights disaster must be a lesson that every other news organization on earth must learn: DO NOT NORMALIZE DONALD TRUMP, the Lincoln Project, a Republican group opposing Trump, said in a statement . CNN gave Trump 90 minutes of uninterrupted air time to rewrite history and reset his own narrative.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) said the decision to platform Trump was shameful after his appearance, saying his comments Wednesday reflected the difficulty people have coming forward with allegations of sexual assault. Trump mocked Carroll as a whack job Wednesday as a friendly audience laughed and applauded him .
I think it was a profoundly irresponsible decision, Ocasio-Cortez said on MSNBC . What we saw tonight was a series of extremely irresponsible decisions that put a sexual abuse victim at risk...in front of a national audience, and I could not have disagreed with it more.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on CNN town hall with former President Trump: What we saw tonight was a series of extremely irresponsible decisions that put a sexual abuse victim at risk...in front of a national audience, and I could not have disagreed with it more. It was shameful pic.twitter.com/DOrMkBIEzq
MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 11, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"MSNBC","author_url":"https://twitter.com/MSNBC","cache_age":86400,"description":"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on CNN town hall with former President Trump: What we saw tonight was a series of extremely irresponsible decisions that put a sexual abuse victim at risk...in front of a national audience, and I could not have disagreed with it more. It was shameful pic.twitter.com/DOrMkBIEzq MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 11, 2023\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_hide_thread":{"label":"Hide previous Tweet in conversation thread","value":true},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":1080,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fvz5s0EXsAEJT9v.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1920,"title":"MSNBC on 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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on CNN town hall with former President Trump: What we saw tonight was a series of extremely irresponsible decisions that put a sexual abuse victim at risk...in front of a national audience, and I could not have disagreed with it more. It was shameful pic.twitter.com/DOrMkBIEzq
MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 11, 2023
Michael Fanone, the former Washington, D.C., police officer who was assaulted on Jan. 6, 2021, told HuffPost he was aghast after the town hall.
Its worse than I could have ever imagined. Its an absolute disaster, Fanone said. Theres no way to fact-check this guy in real time. Hes a volcano of bullshit.
New York Times reporter Jonathan Swan reported Wednesday night Trumps advisers were thrilled with his appearance at the town hall.
They cant believe he is getting an hour on CNN with an audience that cheers his every line and laughs at his every joke, he said.
I cant believe this is being allowed on @cnn. This is promulgating the cult leadership of Trump and people are laughing at sexual assault. God save us. And now trump says its because women LET YOU grab em by the pussy. #TrumpTownHall
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And now trump says its because women LET YOU grab em by the pussy. #TrumpTownHall Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) May 11, 2023\n\n","options":{"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Gretchen Carlson on 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Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"CNN","slug":"cnn","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/cnn","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/cnn","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/cnn"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"CNN","slug":"cnn","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/cnn"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">I cant believe this is being allowed on @cnn . This is promulgating the cult leadership of Trump and people are laughing at sexual assault. God save us. And now trump says its because women LET YOU grab em by the pussy. #TrumpTownHall
Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) May 11, 2023
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This is CNN's lowest moment as an organization.
(And I remember the glory days of their \"balanced\" panels back in 2015-2016.)
This is CNN's lowest moment as an organization.
James Fallows (@JamesFallows) May 11, 2023
(And I remember the glory days of their "balanced" panels back in 2015-2016.)
What is the journalistic justification for this town hall, @CNN, and how can just justify doing this without having your moderator fact-checking the constant stream of lies you knew were coming?
Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 11, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Ida Bae Wells","author_url":"https://twitter.com/nhannahjones","cache_age":86400,"description":"What is the journalistic justification for this town hall, @CNN, and how can just justify doing this without having your moderator fact-checking the constant stream of lies you knew were coming? Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 11, 2023\n\n","options":{"_hide_thread":{"label":"Hide previous Tweet in conversation thread","value":true},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Ida Bae Wells on 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Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"CNN","slug":"cnn","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/cnn","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/cnn","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/cnn"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"CNN","slug":"cnn","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/cnn"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">What is the journalistic justification for this town hall, @CNN , and how can just justify doing this without having your moderator fact-checking the constant stream of lies you knew were coming?
Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 11, 2023
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