CNN’s decision to give indicted, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump nearly 90 minutes of airtime during a town hall event in New Hampshire on Wednesday night was “profoundly irresponsible,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. Not only did Trump come off as misogynistic while reacting to a New York jury on Tuesday finding him liable for sexual battery and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll, but he also lashed out at “nasty” moderator Kaitlan Collins when she pressed him on the Justice Department’s investigation into whether he mishandled classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The New York Democrat, after criticizing CNN’s “irresponsible” choice, told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner: “I don’t think that I would be doing my job if I did not say that, and what we saw tonight was as series of extremely irresponsible decisions that put a sexual abuse victim at risk… in front of a national audience. And I could not disagree with it more. It was shameful.” Trump, who has often referred to the network as “fake news,” happens to be suing CNN for defamation, and has cited his lawsuit in fundraising pitches to supporters. Nevertheless, network executives are working to have the channel be viewed as “centrist.”
