Reporters watch a CNN town hall with former US President and 2024 Presidential hopeful Donald Trump at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, on May 10, 2023. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/BENZINGA
After former President Donald J. Trump’s controversial CNN town hall interview earlier this month, Trump wants to do it again.
“CNN, let’s do another one?” Trump recently posted on his Truth Social media platform.
Trump’s appearance on CNN was his first town hall on that network since 2016. Critics faulted CNN for giving the presidential candidate access to a prestigious audience and the apparent approval of the nation’s cable-television network.
CNN is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) and the network enjoyed its highest ratings in that time slot in many years. Trump called the town hall one of CNN’s “biggest ratings nights in years,” according to Deadline.
Trump had previously blasted CNN and accused the network of being “fake news” during his presidency.
The town hall on CNN with Trump had 3.3 million viewers, according to data from Nielsen, which performed ahead of rivals Fox News and MSNBC during the same time slot.
Trump referred to the town hall as being “absolutely lovely.” During the town hall, Trump drew criticism of his comments on the 2020 election, Vladimir Putin and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on Capitol Hill.
Trump’s comments come after Farah Griffin shared commentary on the CNN town hall.
“America got to see who he is last night: a ranting, raving lunatic, who sided with Vladimir Putin,” Farah Griffin said.
CNN has covered Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely contender for the 2024 GOP primary nomination, in recent months.
With DeSantis being a potential challenger to Trump in 2024, Trump’s team may have welcomed the inclusion on the popular news channel.
The former president is currently behind in the polls in a head-to-head match up with President Joe Biden by 7 points according to a poll conducted by Reuters.
Currently, Biden is maintaining a 40% approval rating in a daunting task for a re-election bid for a second term in 2024.
DeSantis will be making an announcement to run for the White House after a private conversation with Elon Musk via Twitter, according to an exclusive interview on NBC News.
DeSantis leads Biden in key swing states in George and Arizona in a poll conducted by The Hill.
The former president also called out “The View” co-host and former supporter Alyssa Farah Griffin, who also contributes to CNN. Trump called Griffin a loser and shared video of her previously praising the former president.
Trump’s CNN interview marked a turning of the tides, as Trump has often preferred Fox News, a unit of Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOX) (NASDAQ: FOXA).
Trump’s relationship with Fox News is currently strained as he ripped Rupert Murdoch for not embracing an alternative that the former president won the election. Fox News settled for $787 million with Dominion Voting Systems in a defamation suit. It resulted in the firing of former Fox News anchor, Tucker Carlson.
Produced in association with Benzinga
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