CNN’s Christiane Amanpour Says Network Needs To Regain Trust After ‘Earthquake’ Of Trump Town Hall

CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour says she had “a very robust exchange of views” with the network’s chief executive Chris Licht over CNN’s recent prime time town hall featuring former President Donald Trump. Amanpour told graduates at the Columbia Journalism School Wednesday that “your trust in us might have been shaken” by the town hall, but she hoped “we can survive and rebuild that trust.”

More than 3 million viewers watched the town hall, which featured Trump repeating his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen,” and critics knocked CNN for giving Trump a prime time platform to repeat that lie and many others. Moderator Kaitlan Collins attempted to fact check Trump in real time, but cheered on by a supportive audience of Republicans, the former president spoke over Collins and refused to concede making any false statements.

Amanpour, who served as the commencement speaker at Columbia as well as accepted the Columbia Journalism Award on Wednesday, said the town hall format served Trump well, but not viewers. “I still respectfully disagree with allowing Donald Trump to appear in that particular format,” she said. “We know Trump and his tendencies, everyone does. He just seizes the stage and dominates,” no matter how determined a moderator is to hold him accountable.

At one point, as Collins attempted to question Trump, he called her “a nasty person.” Amanpour said it was a defining moment. “I would have dropped the mic at ‘nasty person,’” she said. “But then that’s me…I’ve been in the ring for a long time.”

“I have always opted to speak out when staying silent might have been easier,” Amanpour told graduates at Columbia. “I want to do what’s right and empathize with and acknowledge all of those who need to trust us at CNN. I understand that for many of us the town hall was an earthquake.”

CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy reported Thursday that Licht “welcomed” Amanpour’s concerns about the Trump town hall, “but stood by his decision.” Licht has defended the town hall as an important airing of Trump’s views as he leads the field of Republicans in the 2024 presidential race.

Darcy said “inside CNN, Amanpour is far from alone in her views. In private, the town hall has been widely criticized by employees at all levels across the organization.”