MSNBC torches CNN for airing Trump town hall, platforming Republicans and Democrats: 'This is not journalism'
Joy Reid grilled CNN on Monday after the network announced it would air a town hall with former President Donald Trump, the leading GOP nominee for 2024.
MSNBC host Joy Reid mocked CNN on Monday for the network’s decision to air a town hall with former President Donald Trump, the leading Republican nominee for 2024.
CNN parent company and Warner Brothers CEO David Zaslav argued that the town hall, which will take place in New Hampshire, is an opportunity to let "both voices" be heard in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election.
"We need to hear both voices," Zaslav said during a CNBC interview last week, adding that both Republicans and Democrats "are on the air" on CNN.
"Republicans, Democrats, insurrectionists, everybody’s on the air," Reid said, mocking Zaslav’s defense of bipartisanship.
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MSNBC host Joy Reid mocked CNN on Monday for the network’s decision to air a town hall with former President Donald Trump, the leading Republican nominee for 2024. (Screenshot / MSNBC)
"It feels to me like this is a pretty open attempt by CNN to push itself to the right and make itself attractive and show its belly to MAGA and to conservatives hoping that they will tune in," Reid said.
One of Reid’s guests, editor-at-large of The Bulwark, Charlie Sykes, said that CNN’s decision to platform Trump was "horrifically bad judgment."
"This is not journalism. This is entertainment," Sykes said, explaining that in real "journalism," there are filters for "misinformation."
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One of Reid’s guests, editor-at-large of The Bulwark, Charlie Sykes, said that CNN’s decision to platform Trump was "horrifically bad judgment." ((Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images))
"In journalism, you actually will control the questions and the answers, and you’ll have some sort of a filter for misinformation. CNN will not be able to filter or control the disinformation that Donald Trump puts out on the air live and CNN will not even be able to control the kinds of issues that are talked about," he said.
Sykes claimed that in real "journalism," CNN would press Trump on women who have accused him of sexual assault and ask him whether "he believes the Constitution should be terminated," among other topics.
Media Matters president Angelo Carusone said that CNN was attempting to "mollify all of their right-wing critics or at least to attempt to mollify them by validating even the most bad faith attacks on the network from them."
SUNNY HOSTIN FUMES OVER DONALD TRUMP DOING TELEVISED TOWN HALL: 'I'M SO DISGUSTED'
Co-host Sunny Hostin fumed at CNN on Wednesday for hosting a town hall with Donald Trump. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
CNN also took flack from "The View" co-host Sunny Hostin for giving airtime to the former president, a decision that Hostin said made her feel "disgusted."
"[W]hen someone shows you who they are, you believe them," Hostin said of Trump.
"When you show that you are an insurrectionist, that you’re a liar, that you’re a bigot, that you’re a racist, that you're sexist, that you’re twice impeached, that you’re currently a criminal defendant, and likely to be a criminal defendant in two other jurisdictions, and you grab women by their genitals, I know everything I need to know about you," she said.
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Fox News' Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.