Sensing the outrage and backlash his network has received internally and externally during the overnight and early morning hours for Wednesday night’s chaotic town hall featuring Donald Trump, CNN’s chairman and CEO, Chris Licht took command of CNN’s 9 a.m. ET editorial call to explain why airing the town hall live was the right choice.
Excerpts from the morning call were being shared on social media, with Licht kicking things off by praising moderator Kaitlan Collins, saying what she did was “masterful.”
News: CNN chief Chris Licht started the network’s morning editorial call by congratulating Kaitlan Collins and praising her “masterful performance” as a real-time fact-checker.
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Pivoting straight to the elephant in the room, Licht defended CNN’s position in airing the town hall live, saying, “I am aware that there are people with opinions-slash-backlash….you do not have to like the former president’s answers, but you can’t say we didn’t get them.”
Chris Licht at CNN’s morning news meeting said “I am aware that there are people with opinions-slash-backlash….you do not have to like the former president’s answers, but you can’t say we didn’t get them,” per attendee.
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He stressed that the town hall did generate “a lot of news,” stressing that was CNN’s job.
“You do not have to like the former president’s answers, but you can’t say that we didn’t get them,” Licht tells staffers, many of whom are angry about the town hall. “Kaitlan pressed him again and again and made news. Made a LOT of news.” And “that is our job.”
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 11, 2023
Taking aim at his media critics, Licht said despite the uncomfortableness of hearing people clapping when Trump was behaving boorishly, they were an important part of the story noting that they represent a “large swath of America” which the media ignored during the 2015-16 election period.
“While we all may have been uncomfortable hearing people clapping, that was also an important part of the story,” Licht adds, because those folks represent “a large swath of America,” and the media screwed up by missing that part of the story in 2015/16.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 11, 2023
Licht noted that covering Trump is “tricky and messy” and will continue to be like that, “but that is our job.”
He ended his remarks by resolutely proclaiming, “America was served very well by what we did last night.”
Covering Trump is “tricky and messy,” Licht says, and it will “continue to be messy and tricky, but it’s our job.” He confidently says “America was served very well by what we did last night.” Many CNN employees strongly disagree.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 11, 2023
Many within the CNN hallways may not agree with that sentiment, and the rumblings will be sure to continue for some time.
It will be interesting to see where CNN and Licht go from here after the chaos and mess of that town hall, will there be more town halls with the former president, or was one enough for them?
Arguments can be made about whether the town hall was a service or a disservice to the American populace, but it’s tough to deny that Collins did the best with what she had. The exposure she gained could help her should she transition to the 9 p.m. slot, as has been reported.
