Zaslav defends CNN’s Trump town hall: ‘All voices should be heard’

Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav is defending CNN’s plan to air a town hall forum with former President Trump in prime time next week.

“The U.S. is a divided government,” said Zaslav, who runs CNN’s parent company, during a CNBC appearance Friday. “We need to hear both voices. That’s what you see. Republicans are on the air at CNN. Democrats are on the air. All voices should be heard on CNN.”

Pressed on if presenting both sides of a political argument to viewers can draw enough viewership to help CNN make money, Zaslav said, “we have a great political season coming. … This is a new CNN.”

The network announced earlier this week it would hold a town hall with Trump at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, his first sit-down with a major network outside of Fox News in years.

Critics of the former president have said CNN is wrong to give Trump a platform, citing his history of false or inflammatory statements and ongoing legal battles.

On MSNBC, a competitor to CNN, prime-time host Chris Hayes said the decision to give Trump a town hall is “hard to defend.” Hayes’s network, as well as some other news organizations, have decided against airing Trump’s public events and remarks live or in full.

Trump is currently the front-runner in the Republican presidential primary, with most polls showing him ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to officially declare his candidacy.

CNN specifically, and the cable news business media more generally, have struggled to maintain the high ratings they drew during the Trump presidency.