President Donald Trump turned the tables on Kaitlan Collins when he pulled some receipts out of his pocket to debunk the CNN host’s false claims, much to the delight of the crowd.
Trump steamrolled Collins and won the night, easily, leaving CNN staffers furious.
They were so mad CEO Chris Licht had to defend giving Trump a town on-call with staff this morning. Licht said he is “aware that there has been people with opinions and backlash, but there is so much that we learned last night of what another Trump presidency looked like.
“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.
“The mistake the media made in the past is ignoring that those people exist just like you cannot ignore that President Trump exists.
“I absolutely unequivocally believe America was served very well by what we did last night.
“You do not have to like the former president’s answers, but you can’t say that we didn’t get them.
“Kaitlan pressed him again and again and made news.
“Made a LOT of news.
“And that is our job.”
CNN issued a public statement:
“Tonight Kaitlan Collins exemplified what it means to be a world-class journalist.
“She asked tough, fair and revealing questions.
“And 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.
“That is CNN’s role and responsibility: to get answers and hold the powerful to account.”
NEW: CNN statement on @kaitlancollins following #TrumpTownHall: “Tonight Kaitlan Collins exemplified what it means to be a world-class journalist. She asked tough, fair and revealing questions. And she followed up and fact-checked President Trump in real time …”
— Dominick Mastrangelo (@DomMastrangelo1) May 11, 2023
On a call this morning with CNN staff, network CEO Chris Licht says he is “aware that there has been people with opinions and backlash,” but that “there is so much that we learned last night of what another Trump presidency looked like.”
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) May 11, 2023
Trump just pulls out receipts to disprove Kaitlin Collins’ claims on the CNN town hall… and the crowd cheers!
This is NOT going the way CNN wanted it to. pic.twitter.com/7byCeFkCHr
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) May 11, 2023
