CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins defended the network for the town hall that she moderated with former President Donald Trump, calling it “a major inflection point in the Republican Party’s search for its nominee.”
“Good evening and thanks for joining me. About last night…,” Collins, who has been criticized by viewers and pundits over the town hall, said at the start of the 9 p.m. show that she hosted on CNN on Thursday.
“The 70 minutes that I spent on stage in New Hampshire with former President Donald Trump was a major inflection point in the Republican Party’s search for its nominee, and potentially the starting line for America’s next presidential race.”
Collins, who usually co-hosts “CNN This Morning, stepped into the prized primetime slot as rumors swirl that she will be tapped for the 9 p.m. anchor chair.
The rising star told viewers it was “important to remember that he is right now the GOP front-runner” — even though Trump was “criminally indicted, found civilly liable, and [is] under investigation for everything from his handling of classified documents to his business empire.”
“Also notable is the Republican reaction on Capitol Hill today to someone who could easily once again become their party’s nominee,” Collins added.
CNN then aired clips of remarks by Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) — both of whom were critical of Trump.
“Maybe most telling, though, was how Trump spent most of those 70 minutes defending himself, that he was hardly focused on the current occupant of the Oval Office, President Joe Biden, even as Trump’s advisers have privately urged him to look ahead instead of backward,” Collins said.
CNN has been subject to a harsh backlash over the town hall, during which Trump repeated claims of election fraud while denigrating E. Jean Carroll, the columnist who successfully sued the former president after accusing him of rape.
Collins’ defense of giving Trump airtime ahead of his third run for the White House echoed comments made by her lead-in, Anderson Cooper.
The “AC360″ host told viewers, “You have every right to be outraged today and angry and never watch this network again.”
“But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away?” Cooper said.
Chris Licht, Collins’ boss, was pilloried for putting the 31-year-old Collins in the untenable position of having to question Trump in front of a largely pro-Trump audience that cheered and applauded the former president.
At a Thursday morning meeting at CNN, Licht praised Collins’ “masterful performance,” saying she asked tough questions in difficult circumstances.
“If someone was going to ask tough questions and have that messy conversation, that damn well should be on CNN,” said Licht, who has vowed to restore the network to its roots of centrist coverage.
Part of that push was to hold the town hall before a Trump-friendly crowd.
“While we all may have been uncomfortable hearing people clapping, that was also an important part of the story, because the people in that audience represent a large swath of America,” Licht said.
“And the mistake the media made in the past is ignoring that those people exist. Just like you cannot ignore that President Trump exists.”
The event did widen CNN’s audience, at least for a night.
Nielsen said the town hall averaged 3.3 million viewers, compared to the 707,000 who tuned in to CNN during the same time slot a night earlier.
Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, and bragged about the significant viewership numbers his appearance generated for CNN, the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned all-news outfit that has traditionally lagged behind rivals Fox News and MSNBC.
“People are criticizing CNN for giving me a Forum to tell the TRUTH,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social platform Thursday.
“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!”
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