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US President Donald Trump takes a look during a trade break during an hour-long live forum at NBC News Town Hall with a group of Florida voters in Miami, Florida, US, October 15, 2020.
Carlos Barrea | Reuters
When Chris Licht took over as CEO of CNN last year, he made a promise to viewers.
“The analogy I like to use is that some people like the rain, and some people don’t like the rain,” Licht said in an interview in October. “We’ve got to give room for that. But we’re not going to have someone come in and say it’s not raining.” with CNBC.
Licht was speaking about CNN guests and panelists promoting misinformation, such as election fraud lies, when he made the comment.
On Wednesday, CNN will welcome former President Donald Trump to participate in the city council. This seems to be a case where Licht deflected his own rules. CNN clearly has a different standard for Trump than the Trump spokespersons who zip through the news networks as daily guests.
Trump has repeatedly made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Hundreds of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 to stop Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s victory after Trump told them in a letter “If you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country anymore.”
CNN vowed to hold Trump accountable during the city council.
A CNN spokesperson said, “President Trump is the Republican frontrunner, and our job despite his unique circumstances is to do what we do best.” “Ask tough questions, follow through, and hold him accountable for providing voters with the information they need to sort out their choices.”
Trump’s invitation to CNN
Discovery Warner Brothers Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav and Board Member John Malone about was opened Their beliefs that CNN should be less of an “advocacy network” and more of a medium news network than they were when Jeff Zucker was in charge during the Trump years as president.
“It should be,” Zaslav said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked about Trump’s presence at City Hall. “He’s the Republican frontrunner. He should be in office.”
CNN opts for a live townhall rather than a taped interview with Trump that can then be fact-checked before broadcast. This would be a safer way forward, but a live town hall would likely fetch higher ratings for CNN, which was Bleeding viewers amid programming changes.
Trump veered significantly in his media appearances toward the Republican-leaning Fox News channel during his presidency. I have participated in NBC Town Hall, hosted by Savannah Guthrie, in October 2020.
CNN is taking notes from the event as it prepares for Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. Guthrie has consistently challenged Trump about his propensities for spreading false information, tell him sometime, “You’re the boss, you’re not, like, some crazy person’s uncle.”
CNN’s Town Hall will be hosted by Caitlan Collins, who co-hosted CNN’s new morning show. Collins served as the White House correspondent for CNN during the Trump administration.
“We have a divided government. We need to hear both voices,” Zaslav said on CNBC on Friday. “The Republicans are on the air on CNN, the Democrats are on the air on CNN. All votes must be heard on CNN.”
WATCH: The full CNBC interview with Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav. Discovery
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