Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) criticized CNN for letting Trump attack E. Jean Carroll during the network’s hosted town hall.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted:
This, the choice to platform election disinformation, lies about January 6th, totally unchecked and reckless claims about abortion… they need to take ownership of what just happened.
This cannot be normalized. It’s dangerous.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 11, 2023
In case you missed it, here is a clip of what Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was referring to:
Trump says women will still vote for him after he was found to have sexually abused E. Jean Carroll, ” No, I don’t think so because I think the whole thing just so you understand — you ready? I never met this woman. I never saw this woman.” pic.twitter.com/fHCB3qKCCY
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) May 11, 2023
Everyone knew this was coming. As soon as the verdict was announced in the civil trial, the warnings went out that Trump was going to use the town hall to attack E. Jean Carroll because that is what he always does.
CNN could not have been surprised by this, because it is how Trump operates. The network could have shut down Trump when he began to smear Carroll. CNN could have started off with the sexual abuse question and had tight follow-ups prepared.
Trump steamrolls and takes over any interview when he is given time and space. Trump can’t handle or function within structure. If CNN would have kept the questioning tight and brief, Trump would have been denied the room that he needed to smear his victim.
CNN dropped the ball in many ways at the Trump town hall, but allowing a sexual predator to verbally attack the woman that he sexually assaulted is worse than poor planning.
It is a contemptible disrespect to victims that should never have appeared on CNN.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
