45th President Donald Trump issued a statement celebrating the success of his CNN Town Hall held on Wednesday, noting the broadcast event’s “sky high ratings” and remarking that “many minds were changed” by his performance.
A polarizing event that provoked sharp criticism from Trump’s enemies, including many long considered to be allies of CNN, the Town Hall received at least 3.3 million views according to early reporting. It was the second most viewed broadcast in the liberal network’s history, ranking only behind an event held with Joe Biden shortly before the 2020 election, according to The Hill.
“People are criticizing CNN for giving me a Forum to tell the TRUTH,” wrote Trump in a post on Truth Social, referring to his first appearance on CNN since 2016. “I believe it was a very smart thing that they did, with Sky High Ratings that they haven’t seen in a very long time. It was by far the biggest Show of the night, the week, and the month!”
In a second post, Trump remarked on the calls to censor the broadcast and celebrated its impact on the 2024 election.
Trump wrote, “The Radical Left screamed, ‘Take it down, take it down,’ during the Show, because they saw that I was making so many important points on the Border, Energy Independence, the Afghanistan Catastrophe, Inflation, the Economy, Russia/Ukraine, and so much more.”
“Many minds were changed on Wednesday night by listening to Common Sense, and sheer ‘Brilliance.'”
One example of Trump’s claim may be seen in CNN’s own in-studio voter panel. After the event, the panel urged the network to quit asking about the 2020 election, accusing the liberal cable news outlet of being obsessed. The network, meanwhile, levied the same accusation at Trump.
The most intense reaction to the Town Hall likely came from Rick Wilson, an establishment conservative and the founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project who claimed Trump’s performance should signal the end of the 2024 primary campaign for the Republican Nomination.
“Whatever the f**k they thought they were going to get out of this, they instead have set a match to democracy once again,” Wilson ranted in a profanity laced video posted to his Twitter.
“Wrap that sh*t up, it’s done. You saw this tonight, you know you can’t beat him on the stage,” said Wilson to his former colleagues in the Republican political world. “Everybody else? Oars up, time to go to work, because he’s going to be the nominee.”
I have words. pic.twitter.com/X89gN1LAZf
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 11, 2023
