Former President Donald Trump appears to be trying to lower the expectations for his upcoming town hall event with CNN.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “I’ll be doing CNN tomorrow night, LIVE from the Great State of New Hampshire, because they are rightfully desperate to get those fantastic (TRUMP!) ratings once again. They made me a deal I couldn’t refuse!!!”
“Could be the beginning of a New [and] Vibrant CNN, with no more Fake News, or it could turn into a disaster for all, including me. Let’s see what happens? Wednesday Night at 8:00!!!” he added.
Check out the post below:
“It could turn into a disaster for all.” Trump tries to gin up the ratings for his Town Hall on CNN. pic.twitter.com/8l3kWbgbjH
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 9, 2023
Along with lowering the expectations for him, his post also raises the drama and might make people want to tune in to see if it turns into a dumpster fire.
If he said, “Believe me, folks, this will be the most perfect town hall event you have ever witnessed, people will be crying, and it will be a love fest with the new CNN,” the event would be seen as boring.
But the chance of it turning into an epic disaster, in a strange way, probably makes it more appealing to people.
Still, the chance of it turning into a disaster makes it all the more odd and petty that he would decide to appear on CNN while possibly skipping some Republican presidential debates.
Trump appears to feel like he does not need to debate his primary opponents. One of his aides told CNN, “Why would we debate? That would be stupid to go out there with that kind of lead.”
In a post on Truth Social in April, Trump wrote, “I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them.”
“When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP [and] MAGA hating anchors asking the ‘questions,’ why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?” he asked.
He added, “Also, the Second Debate is being held at the Reagan Library, the Chairman of which is, amazingly, Fred Ryan, Publisher of The Washington Post. NO!”
The first debate is going to be hosted by Fox News, which Trump has lashed out at in recent months. So there could be an aspect of his post on Tuesday of trying to drive up CNN’s ratings to hurt Fox because he’s upset with the network.
And sure, Trump could come off as tough and bold by going into the lion’s den and dealing with the mainstream media.
But he also runs the risk of having a gaffe or explosive moment that goes viral and gives his opponents clips they can use for over a year to shape or reinforce voters’ views of him. And those clips could dominate the news cycle with an absence of positive videos about him to balance it out.
Trump might face some questions about Jan. 6, or his retention of classified documents, or hush money payments during a Republican debate. However, it is unlikely he would face anywhere near the same grilling on those topics on Fox News as he would during a CNN event.
And going on mainstream outlets while shunning conservative events because he’s angry may well wind up hurting him in the general election.