CNN’s planned town hall with Donald Trump faces pushback

The announcement that CNN will host a New Hampshire town hall event for Donald Trump was met with widespread criticism on Monday.

Angelo Carusone, chief executive of Media Matters for America, a progressive watchdog, said: "The transparent attempt to goose their ratings does feel at least a little odious. But all the more reason that they need to get this right."

Judd Legum, author of the Popular Information newsletter, said: "First, CNN systematically purged anyone on the network who was deemed too anti-Trump. Now this."

Keith Olbermann, a Trump critic and former MSNBC host, said: "I think we can say Chris Licht's conversion of CNN into a political and journalistic whorehouse is complete."

Licht took over from Jeff Zucker as CNN's chief executive last year, with a mission to remodel.

Announcing the event to be held at St Anselm College on Wednesday 10 May, CNN said: "The former president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate will take questions from [anchor Kaitlan] Collins and a live audience of New Hampshire Republican and undeclared voters who say they intend to vote in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary."

Trump and CNN were at odds throughout Trump's run for the White House and his presidency, over what he deemed its hostile coverage and liberal slant. Collins, a morning show anchor, formerly worked for the Daily Caller, a website cofounded by Tucker Carlson, the far-right anchor fired by Fox News last week.