Former President Donald Trump said CNN is “rightfully desperate” to get high ratings by holding a town hall with him Wednesday night.
The former president will participate in a New Hampshire town hall, which has raised eyebrows on both sides of the political aisle, with CNN anchor and former Daily Caller reporter Kaitlan Collins. Trump explained his reasoning in a Wednesday video statement for doing a CNN appearance.
“I’ll be doing CNN tonight live from the great state of New Hampshire because CNN is rightfully desperate to get those fantastic Trump ratings back,” Trump said. “They were ratings like none other and they want them back. They made me a deal I couldn’t refuse, could be the beginning of a new and vibrant CNN with no more fake news or it could be a total disaster for all, including me. Let’s see what happens tonight at 8 o’clock.”
CNN’s ratings took a downward spiral in the post-Trump era, with its viewership dropping to its lowest in history in 2022. The network averaged a little over a half-a-million viewers per day, and slightly over 120,000 in the key 25-54-year-old advertiser demographic at the end of last year. (RELATED: Only One Man Can Save CNN)
The former president famously and repeatedly clashed with CNN as the network consistently painted him in a negative light. He always referred to the network as “fake news” and argued particularly with former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta at press briefings.
A senior Trump adviser previously told the Daily Caller Trump agreed to participate in the town hall in order to get out of his “comfort zone,” which his team believes is a strategy for winning in the 2024 presidential election.