CNN to hold Trump 2024 town hall.

CNN to Host Town Hall with Former President Donald Trump

CNN announced on Monday that it will be hosting a town hall with former President Donald Trump next week. The event will take place at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire on May 10, where Trump will field questions from Republicans and undeclared voters.

According to Trump’s team, “CNN executives made a compelling pitch” for the event, which they believe can “jumpstart” the relationship that Trump used to have with the network.

This move by CNN may be an attempt to attract conservative viewers as CEO Chris Licht overhauls the channel. The network has seen a 61 percent drop in ratings during primetime in March and hit a 10-year low in viewership in February.

Trump’s Desire for Mainstream Coverage

An adviser for Trump told Semafor that the event shows the former president’s desire for mainstream coverage that may help attract new supporters. “Going outside the traditional Republican ‘comfort zone’ was a key to President Trump’s success in 2016,” the adviser said. “Some other candidates are too afraid to take this step in their quest to defeat Joe Biden, and are afraid to do anything other than Fox News.”

CNN pointed to its “longstanding tradition of hosting leading presidential candidates for Town Halls.”

Interestingly, this announcement comes four years after the network’s former president Jeff Zucker admitted that CNN “made a mistake” in 2016 by giving Trump so much press. “We shouldn’t have put on as many [Trump] rallies as we did,” Zucker said weeks before Trump’s election.