Disclaimer: we didn't watch the 70- minute Malignant Loser infomercial the amoral suits at CNN put on. If there ever was a reason to turn off that lost network, last night was it.
Here are some brief takeaways from some who did watch the "lie-a-palooza":
The audience at CNN’s lie-a-palooza showed us exactly how devoted Trump’s base remains, how hungry they are for a faux-strong man who's deathly allergic to empathy.
CNN abandoned any claim to journalistic integrity by giving Trump so much free airtime. Host Kaitlan Collins tried to fact-check the former president, but she swiftly sank like a toddler in a ball pit of mendacity.
Michael Fanone, former Metropolitan Police Department officer nearly killed on January 6
It’s worse than I could have ever imagined. It’s an absolute disaster. There’s no way to fact-check this guy in real time. He’s a volcano of bullshit.
James Fallows, former editor and speechwriter for President Carter
This is CNN's lowest moment as an organization. (And I remember the glory days of their "balanced" panels back in 2015-2016.)
Justin Baragona, media reporter for The Daily Beast
Immediate reaction from a CNN on-air personality to me just now on this Trump town hall: "It is so bad. I was cautiously optimistic despite the criticism. It is awful. It's a Trump infomercial. We're going to get crushed."
David Rothkopf, columnist and member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Hard to say what was the worst part of the CNN debacle: Trump repeating the Big Lie, promising to pardon Jan 6 insurgents, further victimizing E. Jean Carroll, not promising to honor the 2024 election result, not calling Vladimir Putin a war criminal...
...or condemning his invasion of Ukraine, implying that there was equivalency between Russia and Ukraine, attacking our allies yet again, promising to double down on many of his worst policies, taking credit for the abomination that was the Dobbs decision...
...the lies upon lies upon lies, the clear message he sent that if elected again would could face even worse than his disastrous, scandal-ridden, failed first term, his insults to Kaitlan Collins for doing her job, the way the audience was constituted...
...the fact that giving him this platform normalized him, allowed him to spread his disinformation & will help him raise $? Each of those was terrible, each chilling in light of the past 7 years. But no, worst of all was CNN's decision to air this in the first place. Disastrous.
Dan McLauglin, conservative columnist for The New York Post
What we saw was a reminder that Trump and CNN deserve each other.
In 2016, America’s cable TV news networks, including CNN, were effectively Donald Trump’s biggest donors.
During the Republican primary, they lavished him with free TV coverage, including airing his rallies live.
That unchallenged airtime would have been worth billions of dollars for a campaign to buy. [snip]
When the circus comes to town, everyone wants to be a clown.
CNN could have done a serious interview, it could have done a genuinely engaging town hall, or it could have denied Trump a soap box.
But it wanted the old Trump Show, so that is what it gave America.
And, from CNN's own media critic Oliver Darcy
It's hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening. [snip]
Trump frequently ignored or spoke over Collins throughout the evening as he unleashed a firehose of disinformation upon the country, which a sizable swath of the GOP continues to believe. A professional lie machine, Trump fired off falsehoods at a rapid clip while using his bluster to overwhelm Collins, stealing command of the stage at some points of the town hall.
Trump lied about the 2020 election. He took no responsibility for the January 6 insurrection that those very lies incited. And he mocked E. Jean Carroll's allegations of sexual assault, which a jury found him liable for on Tuesday.
And CNN aired it all. On and on it went. It felt like 2016 all over again. It was Trump's unhinged social media feed brought to life on stage. And Collins was put in an uncomfortable position, given the town hall was conducted in front of a Republican audience that applauded Trump, giving a sense of unintended endorsement to his shameful antics. [snip]
...CNN and new network boss Chris Licht are facing a fury of criticism — both internally and externally over the event.
How Licht and other CNN executives address the criticism in the coming days and weeks will be crucial. Will they defend what transpired at Saint Anselm College? Or will they express some regret?
For now, CNN is defending itself.
CNN and Chris Licht in particular have the moral clarity and judgement of a slug (no offense to slugs). This is how we got the Malignant Loser in 2016, and nothing has been learned by these ratings- obsessed hollow suits. To follow the same media playbook again is beyond journalistic malpractice; it's anti- American and suicidal.
BONUS: Steve Benen discusses why the Malignant Loser may have compounded his legal woes with some of his blathering.
BONUS II: Mark Sumner has a good recap.
(Image: screenshot via Wonkette)
