As CNN prepares to host a New Hampshire town hall with Donald Trump next week, the network is facing some sharp pushback for that event and its broader plan to treat the former president like any other candidate.
The problem, skeptics argue, is that Trump isn’t like any other candidate. He violated norms and lied throughout his 2016 campaign and his four years in the White House. Most notoriously, he refused to accept Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election — a refusal that paved the way for his supporters’ assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
But Trump is also the early frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, and his candidacy is undeniably newsworthy. Given that, is CNN’s approach as off-base as the network’s critics contend? And if it is, what would a better way to cover Trump’s second campaign as it unfolds? Adam Reilly discusses the past, present and future of Trump coverage with Dan Kennedy and Joanna Weiss of Northeastern University and Lylah Alphonse of the Boston Globe.
Do you think the media should cover Trump differently than other 2024 candidates? If so, how? Send us a message at TalkingPolitics@wgbh.org, or share your thoughts via the Talking Politics page.
You can watch the discussion below right now, or catch the full show at 7 p.m. on GBH 2. Subscribe to the GBH News’ YouTube channel to get alerted to future episodes.
