Fox News will host a town hall featuring former President Donald Trump later this month. Moderated by Sean Hannity, the televised will take place July 18 at 9 p.m. EST in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. According to a press release obtained by The Hill, Trump and Hannity will discuss the “2024 presidential race, immigration, the economy and the overall state of the country with the former president.”
This is the second town hall the former President has participated in during the current election cycle. Previously, he sat down with Kaitlan Collins for a CNN-led town hall at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. Following the televised event, CNN’s Stephen Collinson described the former President’s behavior and comments on several issues as “untamed and untruthful.” Additionally, several members of the media criticized CNN’s decision to air the event.
“It was a complete disaster,” an anonymous CNN employee told POLITICO.
“I thought that this event elevated him in ways that was unnecessary, particularly at this point in the cycle. We are in May 2023. And I thought CNN gave him more of a platform than they needed to do, and with a format that, in essence, favors the candidate rather than Kaitlan Collins, who did a very — had a very tough job and worked at it throughout the 70 minutes of it,” Dan Balz of The Washington Post added.
Despite the backlash received for hosting the event, MSNBC Rashida Jones said that she’d be open to the idea of hosting a town hall with the former President in the future.
“If Trump came to you specifically and says, ‘I want to be on your air to do it,’ would you say yes?” Sara Fischer of Axios asked Jones at the 2023 Cannes Lions Festival.
“Would I say yes? It would be a conversation. I think you’d have to put parameters about how to control the environment,” Jones answered.
