Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and 2024 Republican presidential contender, sharply criticized the party’s top-polling candidates in a CNN town hall in Iowa on Sunday.
via: Radar Online
The numbers are in after 2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley appeared on CNN for a town hall, RadarOnline.com has learned, marking the network’s first since igniting a “fury of criticism” over its controversial event with her rival Donald Trump.
RadarOnline.com has discovered the latest event moderated by Jake Tapper brought in 562,000 total viewers and 136,000 viewers in the prized 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen ratings, which indicated Trump’s event defeated Haley by roughly 80 percent across the board.
It should be noted that Haley’s town hall aired on Sunday, while Trump’s event was aired during the primetime slot on a weekday.
We previously learned Trump’s event, moderated by new primetime star Kaitlin Collins, garnered 3.31 million total viewers and 781,000 demo viewers, giving the ailing network a much-needed boost in ratings although it did come at a cost.
CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy revealed the following day that backlash quickly ensued after Trump’s sit-down with Collins.
“It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening,” Darcy sounded off in a newsletter. “And CNN aired it all. On and on it went. It felt like 2016 all over again. It was Trump’s unhinged social media feed brought to life on stage.”
Network head Chris Licht praised Collins “masterful” performance after the event, and said on an editorial call that criticism was anticipated.
“You do not have to like the former president’s answers, but you can’t say that we didn’t get them,” Licht told staffers. “Kaitlan pressed him again and again and made news. Made a LOT of news.”
Trump thought the town hall could have been a disaster, but had a change of tune after the event. As for Licht, a new report revealed his response to the pushback.
“I came across Licht wearing the expression of a man who had just survived a car wreck. Normally brash and self-assured, Licht was pale, his shoulders slumped,” author Tim Alberta wrote in a piece published by The Atlantic. “He scanned the room with anxious eyes. Spotting me, he summoned a breezy chord. ‘Well,’ Licht said, ‘that?wasn’t boring!'”
Alberta asked Licht whether or not the town hall helped his “mission” for the struggling network, to which he replied, “Too early to say.”
