CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour used strong words to criticise her own network for hosting a town-hall event with United States former president Donald Trump last week, stating she had “a very robust exchange of views” with Chris Licht, the chief executive who has been under fire for approving and then defending his decision to stage it.
The comments were made by Amanpour on Wednesday while she was giving the commencement address at Columbia Journalism School in New York, as reported by Variety and other media outlets.
“We know Trump and his tendencies – everyone does. He just seizes the stage and dominates. No matter how much flak the moderator tries to aim at the incoming, it doesn’t often work. I would have dropped the mic at ‘nasty person’, but then that’s me,” she said.
During the town hall, CNN moderator, Kaitlan Collins was called a “nasty person” by CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins, which prompted applause from the Republican supporters present in the audience in one of many raucous moments.
However, Licht stood by the decision of broadcasting the town hall as he said to the staff it will remind viewers what was at stake in the 2024 presidential election.
Speaking to aspiring journalists, Amanpour said, “I still respectfully disagree with allowing Donald Trump to appear in that particular format.”
Amanpour hopes CNN can rebuild trust with audiences soon
She further hoped CNN can rebuild trust with audiences in the near future.
“I can only hope that your trust in us might have been shaken but not shattered. That you believe we can survive and rebuild that trust,” said Amanpour.
Amanpour has emerged as the first CNN anchor who has publicly expressed her disagreement with the decision to host Trump, however, other employees have also criticised the broadcast.
Reporter Oliver Darcy also had issued a statement against his employer in his Reliable Sources newsletter. “It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening,” wrote Darcy. As per reports, Darcy was rebuked by Licht.
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Amanpour suggested going for strategies similar to those adopted in the 1950s when Republican senator Joseph McCarthy had stoked anti-communist hysteria.
“Maybe we should revert back to the newspaper editors and TV chiefs of the 1950s, who in the end refused to allow McCarthyism on to their pages unless his foul lies, his witch-hunts and his rants reached the basic evidence level required in a court of law,” Amanpour stated.
Speaking about the decision of CNN to broadcast Trump live, she said: “Some of the very best and even most fiery, compelling interviews are, in fact, taped, and they are edited, not to change the context or the content or the truth or the intent, but to edit for filibuster and a stream of disinformation. So maybe less is more. Maybe live is not always right.”
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