GRAIG GRAZIOSI
Michael Fanone, one of the police officers assaulted during the Capitol riot, has slammed CNN for hosting a town hall event featuring Donald Trump — the man he says “tried to get me killed.”
Though he recognises that Mr Trump is the likely Republican frontrunner ahead of the 2024 election and admits that he is far from the only politician who has lied to the American public, Mr Fanone still believes the former president is uniquely unworthy of a national platform.
“I’ll tell you why this is different,” Mr Fanone writes. “Those lies convinced thousands of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, violently attacking uniformed police officers and terrorizing members of Congress and their staff. I witnessed this assault firsthand as an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, who like hundreds of MPD officers, responded to the U.S. Capitol Police Department’s calls for assistance after their officers were overrun by Trump’s mob. As a result of my efforts that day I was severely beaten, struck numerous times with a taser, and suffered a heart attack as well as a traumatic brain injury. One police officer died, and several others took their own lives in the wake of that barbaric day.”
He argues that putting Mr Trump “like a normal candidate who didn’t get people killed in the process of trying to end the democracy he’s attempting to once again run,” would only serve to normalize his actions today and for future candidates.
Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav defended CNN — which Warner owns — and its decision to host the townhall after its announcement spurred public backlash.
“The US has a divided government. We need to hear both voices,” Zaslav told CNBC’s Squawk Box. “Republicans are on the air on CNN, Democrats are on the air… When we do politics, we need to represent both sides. I think it’s important for America.”
He said he was happy Mr Trump — the “front-runner” — was going to appear on the network.
Fanone and others — including the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot — have argued that Mr Trump is directly responsible for the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Mr Trump has denied being at fault for his loyalists beating police officers and breaking the building.
Even convicted rioters — including the former head of the Proud Boys, who was recently convicted on seditious conspiracy charges — blamed Mr Trump for the violence on 6 January.
Though Mr Trump is doing little to assist the incarcerated rioters now, he has assured his supporters he will help them — if he gets elected.
“Since his announcement that he was seeking the presidency for a third time, he has offered to pardon his insurrectionist supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, calling them ‘Patriots’ and ‘Great Americans,'” Mr Fanone wrote. “He has even incorporated recordings of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ and ‘Justice for All’ as sung by the J6 Prison Choir, a group of inmates imprisoned for their roles in the violent insurrection, into his rallies — giving these violent criminals a place of prominence in his campaign.”
Mr Fanone then shifted attention to CNN, expressing some scepticism of the ethos coming from the company’s new C-suite occupants.
“In the past, CNN has recognized the dangers of allowing election deniers a public platform and would not allow them on-air. Under new ‘leadership,’ that policy has been discarded as evidenced by CNN’s decision to allow the chief election denier, former President Donald J. Trump, a prominent time slot in its evening lineup,” Mr Fanone wrote.
The retired officer is likely referencing internal shakeups at CNN under the reigns of its new CEO, Chris Licht, who replaced Jeff Zucker. Mr Zucker sat at the network’s helm during Mr Trump’s presidency, when the commander-in-chief named CNN as his primary antagonist and journalists “enemies of the people.”
Mr Fanone continued, saying the quiet part about the media business — keyword “business” — out loud.
“I’ve heard the network’s attempts to justify this clear reversal. The ‘He’s the frontrunner in the Republican primary’ argument. Somehow the network’s ‘ethical’ responsibility changed from preventing election deniers a platform regardless of the topic, to giving those same individuals a huge platform to disseminate their lies. I don’t believe for one second that this is about journalistic integrity,” he wrote. “It’s about ratings and money.
Warner Bros CEO defends CNN’s Donald Trump town hall following backlash: ‘He’s the front-runner’
‘When we do politics, we need to represent both sides,’ Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav argued
Tom Murray
Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav has defended CNN’s forthcoming town hall Q&A with former president Donald Trump.
The network, which is owned by Zaslav’s media giant, has faced intense backlash for scheduling the appearance.
“The US has a divided government. We need to hear both voices,” Zaslav told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday (5 May).
“Republicans are on the air on CNN, Democrats are on the air… When we do politics, we need to represent both sides. I think it’s important for America.”
Zaslav continued on Trump: “He’s the front-runner – he has to be on our network. We’re happy he’s coming on there.”
“This is a new CNN,” the CEO added. “I’m proud of CNN, we’re on a great journey and this country needs it.”
The move to include Trump in its coverage is seen as a move from both the network and the presidential candidate to boost ratings.
During his presidency, Trump repeatedly criticised CNN as “fake news” – he has not appeared on the network since 2016.
“I find it very hard to defend the choice to give him a live platform, no matter how it is dressed up,” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said on Wednesday (3 May) about his competitor’s decision.
“If he is given live airtime, there is no way to know if he will do something like, I don’t know, give out the personal information about the DA? Something that, once said on a live broadcast, cannot be unsaid and undone.”
Meanwhile, on ABC’s chat show The View, co-host Sunny Hostin said she was “disgusted” by the move.
“When someone shows you who they are, you believe them. 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 are currently a criminal defendant and likely to be a criminal defendant in two other jurisdictions… I know everything I need to know about you.”
She added: “You don’t give that kind of person a platform.”
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins moderated the town hall with Trump on 10 May from from St Anselm College in New Hampshire.
“This event with former president Trump will be the first of many for CNN in the coming months as CNN correspondents travel across the country to hear directly from voters in the runup to the 2024 presidential election.”
CNN, with 1/5 the viewership of Fox News and less than half the viewership of MSNBC, is dying. Appealing to the Fox audience is a (useless) survival tactic.
CNN’s dilemma is this: if they were to pursue hard-hitting stories that gored oxen from both camps they would be left with few viewers. For the most part, folks watch that which confirms who they are.
Quakers have the answer to this self-confirmation bias dilemma. Nothing disconfirms my built-in bias more completely than my on-going relationship with what we broadly term Spirit. It’s a shame we are determined to keep this invaluable resource a secret. We readily broadcast the fruits of our relationship with Spirit while keeping our “secret sauce” that got us there closely guarded.
Russia TV hosts sure loved this CNN Town Hall, as Julia Davis News has recorded and translated for an American audience. Trump’s both-sides, peace-in-24-,hours comments about the War in Ukraine were played in Russia — at length. In 2024, as in 2016 and 2020, the disparity of policy toward Russia and Ukraine between Trump and, on the other side. many Republican Congressional leaders will be something to watch for with keen eyes. I detested the other parts of the Town Hall, but perhaps this portion will remind us that we shouldn’t forget the First Impeachment of Trump over the phone call to Zelensky, much less the second one, the latter as the above article demonstrates with great thoroughness.
Very interesting, Steve. Of course I had forgotten, that “the whole world was watching.”