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By Aila Slisco
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Former President Donald Trump is praising CNN for deciding to host him at a town hall event despite criticism from "the radical left."
Trump, who has repeatedly denounced CNN as "fake news" in the past, said in a pair of Truth Social posts on Thursday that the network had achieved "sky high ratings" by hosting the town hall in New Hampshire on the previous night.
The event was met with both accolades from Trump supporters and denouncements of CNN from critics of the ex-president. Many critics complained that Trump, who is seeking to regain the presidency in 2024, used the event to repeat false claims that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" against him.
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While commenting on the backlash, the former president maintained that the controversial event had instead given him a platform to expose "the truth." He praised CNN for making what he said was a "very smart" choice.
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"People are criticizing CNN for giving me a Forum to tell the TRUTH," Trump wrote. "I believe it was a very smart thing that they did, with Sky High Ratings that they haven't seen in a very long time. It was by far the biggest Show of the night, the week, and the month!"
Trump's town hall did result in relatively high ratings for CNN. Nielsen figures indicate that 3.3 million viewers tuned in to watch the event. The New York Times pointed out that the figure was just over the average audience for fired former Fox News host Tucker Carlson's now-canceled popular opinion show.
However, the event still had significantly less viewers than Trump town halls hosted by Fox News in 2016 and 2020. It was CNN's highest-rated single-candidate town hall since a similar event featuring then-presidential candidate Joe Biden drew 3.4 million viewers before the 2020 election.
In addition to touting the ratings for his town hall event Thursday, Trump also shared a Times article about Chris Licht, CEO of CNN, defending the decision to host him during a morning call with network employees.
The newspaper quoted Licht as saying that he "unequivocally" believed "America was served very well" by the town hall, while commending the event's host Kaitlan Collins for a "masterful performance."
Trump said that the backlash indicated his critics had wanted to interrupt and end CNN's broadcast on Wednesday. He claimed that his own performance and "brilliance" had changed the political views of "many minds."
"The Radical Left screamed, 'Take it down, take it down,' during the Show, because they saw that I was making so many important points on the Border, Energy Independence, the Afghanistan Catastrophe, Inflation, the Economy, Russia/Ukraine, and so much more," Trump wrote.
"Many minds were changed on Wednesday night by listening to Common Sense, and sheer 'Brilliance,'" he added.
CNN declined to comment on the ratings and Trump's response when contacted by Newsweek.
In a statement emailed to Newsweek on Wednesday night, a network spokesperson lauded Collins for demonstrating "what it means to be a world-class journalist" by asking "tough, fair and revealing questions."
"She followed up and fact-checked President Trump in real time to arm voters with crucial information about his positions as he enters the 2024 election as the Republican frontrunner," the spokesperson said. "That is CNN's role and responsibility: to get answers and hold the powerful to account."
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