CNN’s Anderson Cooper told his audience Thursday night they have “every right” not to watch CNN after it hosted a town hall with former President Donald Trump.
Trump sat down for a town hall with CNN at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire on Wednesday where he discussed the 2020 election, the current state of the economy and foreign affairs. His appearance was met with stark rebuke both internally at CNN and externally. Cooper addressed some of the backlash during his opening monologue.
“Before we begin with tonight’s broadcast, I want to say something about what we witnessed at last night’s town hall. Many of you have expressed deep anger and disappointment. Many of you are upset that someone who attempted to destroy our democracy was invited to sit on a stage in front of a crowd of Republican voters to answer questions and predictably, continued to spew lie after lie after lie. And I get it, it was disturbing,” Cooper said.
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“Now, many of you think CNN shouldn’t have given him any platform to speak,” Cooper went on. “And I understand the anger about that – giving him the audience, the time. I get that. But this is what I also get. The man you were so disturbed to see and hear from last night? That man is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president. And according to polling, no other Republican is even close.” (RELATED: ‘But, You’re Right’: CNN Reporter Visibly Taken Aback After GOP Voter Slams Him On-Air For Trump Question)
“So if last night showed anything, it showed it can happen again,” Cooper said, noting that there are millions of Trump supporters out there. “It is happening again. He hasn’t changed, and he is running hard. 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 then urged his viewers to “actually get involved” and “do something” to counter Trump.
CNN CEO Chris Licht defended the town hall during Thursday morning’s editorial call amidst the backlash, saying “America was served very well by what we did last night.” Both Licht and CNN have received a “flurry of criticism,” RadarOnline reported.