CNN’s Christiane Amanpour said she disagreed with the Trump town hall, which was addressed by boss Chris Licht

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Several CNN employees expressed their displeasure at the town hall, where Trump continued to push back on false claims about the 2020 election and defended his actions on Jan. 6.

Before speaking at Columbia, Licht sent a note to CNN employees praising Amanpour and encouraging employees to tune in, CNN’s Oliver Darcy wrote in his daily newsletter. The CEO knew Amanpour planned to address the town hall, a company spokeswoman told him.

In an internal call with employees last week of which POLITICO Playbook obtained a recording, Licht defended the town hall and congratulated moderator Kaitlan Collins for a great performance.

Amanpour said in his speech that Licht did say that the enforcement of the town hall was somewhat lacking and he said that we will not witness the same appalling behavior in future town halls.

Darcy wrote in his newsletter Reliable Sources that Inside CNN, Amanpour is not alone in his views.

In private, the town hall was widely criticized by employees at all levels throughout the organization, Darcy wrote. Some of these employees believe Trump is unworthy of a town hall platform. … Others believed it was a worthy effort to confront him, but the event was poorly executed.

While Collins attempted to fact check Trump in real time, he mostly dominated the interview. If Amanpour had been in Collins’ seat, he said, I would have put the mic down on the grumpy guy, but that was me. I’ve been in the ring with a lot of these guys for a long time.

We know Trump and his habits, everyone knows, Amanpour added. He just steals the stage and dominates, no matter how much the moderator tries to focus on the incoming. It doesn’t often work.

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