Ocasio-Cortez hits CNN chief over Trump town hall: ‘Disservice to democracy’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is pushing back on CNN CEO Chris Licht’s defense of the network’s handling of a town hall event with former President Trump this week.

“’Making news’ is not the same as covering news. When one wishes to become a participant in events (ie. “making” news), they become the story and sacrifice the pretense of a neutral observer,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet Thursday. “Also no one got answers. It was 70 mins of steamrolled propaganda, esp on abortion & SA.”

The Democratic congresswoman was responding to reported comments Licht made on CNN’s morning editorial call defending the network from the internal and external criticism it has faced for the town hall with the former president.

During the event, Trump lied repeatedly about the result of the 2020 election, dismissed being found liable in a sexual abuse case, and pushed back on investigations into his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He also snapped at moderator Kaitlan Collins, calling her a “nasty person.”

“You do not have to like the former president’s answers, but you can’t say that we didn’t get them,” Licht reportedly told CNN staffers on the call. “Kaitlan [Collins] pressed him again and again and made news. Made a LOT of news.”

Ocasio-Cortez called the CNN Trump town hall “a disservice to democracy, but also a major harm for women, survivors, & people who rely on repro rights.”

“CNN allowing sexual assault to be treated like a joke to an applauding audience is egregious,” she said. “At this point it’s not abt Trump- we know him. It’s abt the programming.”