Usually when you sell your soul, you get something pretty cool in return—at least until your Faustian bargain goes full Hindenburg in the third act. But if you’re CNN or Sen. Lindsey Graham, all you get is the privilege of carrying Donald Trump’s water. And in Graham’s case, probably his golf clubs, too. And maybe Eric, if it’s after 3 PM and he’s missed his nap.
As we all know by now, CNN set out a MAGA thirst trap for low-information voters last week by gifting a confirmed insurrectionist and admitted sexual assaulter a choice prime time slot in which to feebly deny his past crimes and promise literally impossible feats, like ending the war in Ukraine in 24 hours and convincing suburban swing voters that his unctuous raccoon hands haven’t pawed at marginally more women than McRib sandwiches.
So how did that work out for CNN? Early indications are ... not so great.
RELATED STORY: CNN's defense of Trump town hall is generating more outrage
The Daily Beast:
Two days after the network pulled in more than 3.3 million viewers for its widely criticized town hall with former President Donald Trump, CNN found itself in fourth place among cable news networks in primetime. Worse yet, it finished behind MAGA channel Newsmax, which until recently was barely nabbing a nightly audience of 100,000. According to Nielsen, CNN averaged just 335,000 total viewers and 87,000 in the key 25-54 advertising demographic during Friday night’s 8-11 p.m. time slot. (Fridays typically draw fewer cable news viewers than other weeknights.) By comparison, Newsmax drew 357,000 viewers and 45,000 in the demo in primetime on Friday. The right-wing network has experienced a ratings boost since Fox News fired Tucker Carlson last month, seizing on conservative anger over the shocking ouster.
Wait, so MAGAs didn’t want to hang around after the town hall to enjoy the thousand-yard stares of professional journalists who’ve given most of their careers to CNN, only to watch it air a low-rent Jerry Springer episode in which the Klansmen didn’t actually wear hoods but were somehow even easier to spot?
Weird, man.
While Fox’s viewership has dropped precipitously since then, especially in primetime, it still easily led cable news ratings on Friday night. CNN is coming off of one of its worst-rated quarters in recent history, though it did see year-over-year gains last month. At the same time, though, viewers have expressed their anger over the town hall fiasco lately and even vowed to boycott the channel.
So here’s what apparently happens when you try to become Fox Lite. Fox keeps its viewers, Newsmax beats you in the ratings, you infuriate your core audience, and fascism creeps ever closer. And not for nothing, you also demoralize your own employees, who maybe don’t think it’s such a great idea to platform a cartoon supervillain who singlehandedly attempted to end American democracy—and has never shown a scintilla of remorse over it.
RELATED STORY: Trump's awful CNN town hall sounded alarm for 2024 election
New CNN CEO Chris Licht is in over his head, and it’s not just Trump’s voluminous spittle he’s drowning in. At some point over the past several months—let’s just pick a random moment and say approximately 8 PM ET on May 10, 2023—CNN transformed from the Most Trusted Name in News to a Blustery, Shameful Ooze.
RELATED STORY: CNN's Chris Licht reportedly scolded employee who criticized Trump town hall
And it’s not like people didn’t predict this.
This was a shameful ratings grab for CNN, and fortunately for both democracy and journalism, those coveted ratings quickly slipped through their fingers like piss-soaked sand.
So now what will you do, CNN? While giving Donald Trump a rubber room in which to fling his feces is never a good idea, it’s always a great day to fire Chris Licht.
Make it so.
Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.