It didn’t take long for Team Trump to declare victory Wednesday night as the former president returned to CNN for a town hall in which he ran roughshod over host Kaitlan Collins.

In fact, the Trumpsters declared victory before the curtain came down.

“Advisers to Trump are thrilled at how this is going so far for him,” Jonathan Swan of The New York Times reported. “They can’t believe he is getting an hour on CNN with an audience that cheers his every line and laughs at his every joke.”

Former network news executive Mark Lukasiewicz tweeted, “The predictably disastrous (CNN) town hall was indeed disastrous. Proving again: Live lying works. A friendly MAGA crowd consistently laughs, claps at Trump’s punch lines — including re sex assault and Jan 6 — and the moderator cannot begin to keep up with the AR-15 pace of lies.”

The predictably disastrous @cnn town hall was indeed disastrous. Proving again: Live lying works. A friendly MAGA crowd consistently laughs, claps at Trump’s punch lines – including re sex assault and Jan 6 – and the moderator cannot begin to keep up with the AR-15 pace of lies. pic.twitter.com/x2SG5WawJm

— Mark Lukasiewicz (@DeanLuk) May 11, 2023

CNN Boss Should Have Known What Was Coming

The cheers from the audience at Saint Anselmo College in Manchester, New Hampshire, should have come as no surprise as the audience was comprised of Republicans and independents.

Now CNN’s new network boss, Chris Licht, is facing a torrent of criticism for airing what amounted to a campaign rally for the 2024 front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

Tweeted CNBC media reporter Alex Sherman: “Chris Licht said he wouldn’t allow anyone on his network that said it’s raining when it’s not. But he’s let someone on now who says it’s raining when it’s not, and he added hundreds of people to applaud when he does it.”

CNN CEO Chris Licht said he wouldn’t allow anyone on his network that said it’s raining when it’s not.

But he’s let someone on now who says it’s raining when it’s not, and he added hundreds of people to applaud when he does it.

— Alex Sherman (@sherman4949) May 11, 2023

“As soon as it was announced that CNN had invited Donald Trump on for a town hall, critics immediately and harshly blasted the network, wondering why in the world it would hand a megaphone to a former president who is known to lie, twist history, undermine democracy and is facing a slew of legal troubles,” wrote Tom Jones, senior media writer for Poynter.

“Turns out, those fears were realized. Fully realized. This wasn’t a town hall. It was a Trump rally.”

Wrote Erik Wemple, media critic for The Washington Post:

“Trump stomached his revulsion for his network hosts in exchange for a home crowd of sorts — a group that no doubt enjoyed watching the main attraction steamroll an earnest, fact-checking network host.

“CNN hasn’t figured this thing out, and it’s a good bet its competitors have no better ideas.”