# CNN Town Hall with Donald Trump: May 10, 2023 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 11, 2023, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873 "2023-05-11T00:01:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/261 "2023-05-16T20:05:53Z")
> **[Trump town hall slurs against E. Jean Carroll ‘definitely actionable,’ lawyer...](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4006510-trump-town-hall-slurs-against-e-jean-carroll-definitely-actionable-lawyer-says/)** > > Writer E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer says former President Trump’s comments bashing Carroll during his recent CNN town hall are “definitely actionable” after a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse a… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/262 "2023-05-16T20:41:16Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > In my most deeply cynical moments, I start to wonder if democracy was really such a good idea…. What makes you think you’re living in a democracy? Real democracy works – more or less – when you have a civic-minded population that takes an interest in current events, stays informed, forms evidence-based opinions, then votes on that basis. When half the population consists of ill-informed morons who are constantly lied to by plutocrats and demagogues and believe every word of it, and a good portion of the other half are so mired in cynicism or downright complacency that they don’t even bother to vote, then you don’t really have democracy except in name only, because, like, there’s ballots and stuff. And you especially don’t have a democracy when the media – whose job it is to prevent problems like this from happening by ensuring a well-informed and engaged populace – is solely interested in pursuing ratings and selling ad time. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/263 "2023-05-16T21:48:47Z")
> ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/264 "2023-05-17T02:33:38Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > . . . then you don’t really have democracy except in name only, because, like, there’s ballots and stuff. And you especially don’t have a democracy when the media – whose job it is to prevent problems like this from happening by ensuring a well-informed and engaged populace – is solely interested in pursuing ratings and selling ad time. I agree that democracy is more than ballots. Being able to freely discuss (as we do here) is another part of it. A free press is also a big part of it, and I think we still have it. Maybe not on cable TV, but other media is not surpressed. And U.S. television news has always lacked a wall between the business and editorial side. If what you describe is a fair description of the U.S. situation, then it is, item for item, just as true of India. And India is definitely a democracy. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/265 "2023-05-18T00:17:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “Two days after CNN pulled in more than 3.3 million viewers for its widely criticized town hall with Donald Trump, CNN found itself in fourth place among cable news networks in primetime. …” > > [x.com](https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1658235728738877440) I’m happy to hear this. Every time I pay any attention to the topic of “CNN” it’s because Jake Tapper has been saying that the Durham report exonerates Donald Trump,\* or some other such ludicrous-and-alarming indication that CNN is going full-Breitbart. Let the ratings go down enough and Licht will get the boot in favor of someone who actually thinks honest journalism has value. > - [https://twitter.com/0ccupyDemocrat/status/1658208140419280897](https://twitter.com/0ccupyDemocrat/status/1658208140419280897) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/266 "2023-05-18T00:53:19Z")
Yes I was actually more appalled by Tapper’s summary here than the town hall. At least with the town hall they can claim the situation got out of their control. This seems to be willful gaslighting. The Mueller report indicted 34 people, including many senior members of Trump’s campaign. Although collusion was not part of the investigation, it noted around a dozen ways that Trump obstructed justice. Meanwhile, after 4 years, Durham indicted two relatively low-level guys who were both acquitted. No evidence was presented in this new set of assertions. _How the fuck_ are you going to claim that exonerates Trump? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/267 "2023-05-18T00:56:55Z")
Never mind. I was mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/268 "2023-05-18T02:22:33Z")
I love that CNN headline in the Youtube thumbnail. (In case the video disappears, it’s in all caps and says “Special Counsel Durham concludes FBI never should have launched Trump-Russia Probe”.) So once again we have someone telling us that Trump would not look like a criminal if we would just stop looking at him already. That’s a great defense. If Trump can just make it so that no one can ever investigate him then he is by definition innocent of everything! ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/269 "2023-05-18T02:27:59Z")
Yep. I never really watched much CNN on the TeeVee, so that boycott sailed but I’ve deleted my shortcut links to CNN and unfollowed them on social media. Chris Licht is a slimey douche-bag, so all of CNN is dead to me until he’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/270 "2023-06-07T14:31:19Z")
> **[CNN CEO Chris Licht reportedly to leave cable news giant within 48 hours](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jun/07/chris-licht-leaves-cnn)** > > Embattled chairman was under siege from within after profile in the Atlantic revealing decisions made over Trump town hall ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/271 "2023-06-07T15:40:19Z")
From the Atlantic’s devastating article: > “Chris Licht is rapidly becoming the Elon Musk of CNN,” tweeted _The Bulwark_ ’s Charlie Sykes. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/272 "2023-06-07T16:51:06Z")
Wow. Brutal takedown, yeh. I wonder how long it will take CNN to undo the damage he inflicted, even assuming it’s possible to clear away the wreckage and restore the organization to something approximating what it used to be. They could start by bringing back Brianna Keilar and John Berman to host the straightforward morning news broadcast instead of that stupid roundtable nattering session. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/273 "2023-06-07T17:00:04Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > They could start by bringing back Brianna Keilar and John Berman to host the straightforward morning news broadcast instead of that stupid roundtable nattering session. I’ve been staying with my mom for the first half of the year while she recuperates from a surgery. So she’s got the TV on all day. She usually lands on a show called “The Daily Blast” which…I can’t even begin to describe how terrible it is as a “news” format. It’s actually not right wing or left wing, but it presents itself as a “news” broadcast but every news segment includes VERY RANDOM, not even researched, un-informed opinions from the anchors and some “let’s see what people on Twitter have to say.” The opinions all seem rather off-the-cuff. The show is syndicated, and I think has national parts and then local segments. As a person with a journalism degree, this is horrifying. As a human it’s also horrifying. Anyway, I happened to be at mom’s the other day when she was watching a news broadcast and it wasn’t The Daily Beast it was the regular local news. They seem to have adopted the SAME FORMAT with the opinions and such. This wasn’t a morning chat show this was the 6 o’clock news!! My point is…this seems to be how people want news now, and/or what the “news” is giving us. Basically copying the Fox News style, just with un-partisan voices. It’s scary and it sucks. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/274 "2023-06-07T17:09:24Z")
Yup, it appears the latest fashion in TV “news” is these roundtable chit-chats. Or having the anchors stand around, carefully posed together, and engage in inane banter between snippets of actual news. And the weatherbabes\* all wear bandaid dresses. \*Maybe the weatherbabes actually are trained meteorologists, but they also have to be TV-pretty and have hot bods in those skintight dresses. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/275 "2023-06-07T17:14:18Z")
Oh, by the way, @ZipperJJ, if you want to see the reality-TV trend of news reporting extended to a horrifying conclusion, pick up [John Barnes’ _Mother of Storms_ novel.](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1416715) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/276 "2023-06-07T17:49:06Z")
It’s official: > **[CNN Chairman and CEO Chris Licht is out after a brief and tumultuous tenure |...](https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/07/media/chris-licht-cnn/index.html)** > > Chris Licht, the embattled chief executive and chairman of CNN, whose brief one-year tenure at the network was stained by a series of severe missteps, departed the company on Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873/277 "2023-06-08T21:07:35Z")
Olbermann’s been tearing Licht a new one lately- they have history. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-town-hall-with-donald-trump-may-10-2023/983873.md?page=13)