Tell CNN to stop giving Trump free air time!
Dear MoveOn members,
CNN is providing Donald Trump an exclusive, prime-time platform in his campaign for president.1
The cable news network is hosting a televised town hall on May 10 with Trump in New Hampshire, an early primary state for the GOP nomination and perennial battleground state for the presidency.
They're giving Trump free airtime to spin his lies, without even a single Republican challenger present.
CNN's ill-conceived town hall demonstrates that the U.S. press has not learned its lesson in covering Trump—or perhaps has only learned that his heinous antics are good for ratings.
In 2016, major news networks gave Donald Trump $2 billion in free advertising.2 Seven years later, they are doing it again. When Donald Trump announced he was running for president in 2024, CNN covered his announcement speech live, just like FOX News did, essentially giving him free rein to dominate airwaves and reach viewers with his narcissistic brand of conspiracy theories and abuse. Meanwhile, ABC, CBS, and NBC all passed on airing the speech live.3 After Trump arrived home to Mar-a-Lago after turning himself in on criminal charges, CNN ran Trump's speech live for 23 minutes of the 24-minute rant, while the likes of NPR and MSNBC skipped it.4,5
All of this free air time does Trump's work for him and legitimizes him as a real politician, instead of the indicted, twice-impeached sore loser that he is. It's time for CNN and the rest of the media to treat him as such.
CNN's Trump fixation is part of a calculated pattern for both CNN and Trump. For years, Trump railed against CNN as "fake news" and boycotted the network. But he realizes that reaching viewers outside the right-wing echo chamber will be necessary to win back an office he attempted to take by inciting an insurrection. Meanwhile, CNN is trying to prop up its ratings and appeal to the "center."
But there's nothing "centrist" about Trump. Just last week, he recommitted to banning Muslims from entering the U.S. if he retakes the White House.6 At this very moment, he is on trial for sexual assault in New York City, where he has also been charged with 34 other felonies. He continues to reject the reality that he lost the 2020 election, and he's being investigated in multiple jurisdictions for crimes stemming from that lie. He is a danger to our country, our communities, and our world.
Donald Trump is a coward. He's afraid of sharing a stage with the other announced challengers for the GOP nomination, which is why he has already signaled that he will likely skip the GOP primary debates that FOX is hosting this fall.7 And he recently threw a tantrum after a journalist asked him about potential criminal charges against him in Georgia.8 This CNN town hall will be moderated by a respected journalist, but there's no way to adequately fact-check someone who lies about every little thing.
Thanks for all you do.
–Justin, Valeria, Isbah, David, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Why CNN Gave Trump a Prime-Time Town Hall—And Why Trump Accepted," Vanity Fair, May 2, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/172206?t=6&akid=351427%2E40999114%2EO2wSK3
2. "$2 Billion Worth of Free Media for Donald Trump," The New York Times, March 15, 2016
3. "Broadcast networks take a pass on Trump campaign announcement," The Washington Post, November 15, 2022
4. "CNN chose to air almost the entirety of Trump’s lie-filled Mar-a-Lago rally," Media Matters for America, April 4, 2023
8. "Why CNN Gave Trump a Prime-Time Town Hall—And Why Trump Accepted," Vanity Fair, May 2, 2023
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