Presidential debate carries great opportunity—and risk—for CNN

Donald Trump is set to debate President Biden in a CNN studio on Thursday, the former president’s first appearance on the cable channel since a contentious town hall last year that preceded the abrupt exit of the network’s previous chief executive.

The event is expected to generate big ratings for CNN, whose prime-time viewership has been sinking. But it also will open it up to criticism, given its control over the format of the debate and its history of tense exchanges with Trump officials during the former president’s administration.

On Monday, Mark Thompson, CNN’s chief executive, urged staffers not to get caught in the crossfire in the run-up to the debate, telling them during a morning meeting to “keep calm, lucid heads" and approach the event “with professionalism and calm."

Hours earlier, CNN host Kasie Hunt had made headlines by abruptly cutting short an interview with a Trump spokeswoman who had repeatedly criticized CNN host Jake Tapper, who will moderate Thursday’s debate along with Dana Bash.

“I am going to stop this interview if you continue to attack my colleagues," Hunt said. After the spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, continued to criticize Tapper, Hunt thanked her and ended the conversation.

The exchange rang echoes of the early days of the Trump administration, when CNN hosts and other broadcast journalists would frequently spar with Trump officials on the air, fueling accusations of bias by Trump and his followers.

“You come on my show, you respect my colleagues. Period," Hunt posted on X after the interview. “I don’t care what side of the aisle you stand on."

Trump has been taking jabs at CNN in recent days, saying during a recent rally in Wisconsin that he will be “debating three people" on Thursday—referring to Biden, Tapper and Bash.

‘It’s a real coup’

Thursday’s debate carries great opportunity—and risk—for the network, which beyond its sagging-ratings problem is still looking for a direction after frequent leadership changes, with three different leaders in less than three years.

“It comes at a really important time in terms of CNN and its ratings and morale," said Jane Hall, a professor in the School of Communication at American University and the author of “Politics and the Media: Intersections and New Directions." “It’s a real coup."

CNN will be under additional scrutiny given how much control it has over the format of the debate, including picking the moderators, eschewing an audience and having the candidates’ microphones on only when it is their time to speak. In previous cycles, such details were the responsibility of an independent commission that both Biden and Trump chose to bypass this time around.

The sometimes tense relationship between Trump and CNN is something that Thompson’s predecessor, Chris Licht, had sought to mend during his short tenure at the helm. He frequently delivered edicts about how CNN could be less biased in its political coverage, and he was the architect of what many pundits described as a disastrous town hall with Trump last year. Licht left the network less than a month later, after a blistering profile in the Atlantic led to growing criticism of him inside the news network.

Since he took over in October, Thompson, a former top executive of the New York Times and the BBC, has largely focused on transforming CNN’s digital operation.

When he joined the network last fall, Thompson urged employees not to “second guess ourselves or get distracted by complicated arguments about balance or whataboutism or false equivalency," according to a video message to staff. “Let’s cover political news proportionately and fairly, but not be frightened of our own shadows."

Radically different format

The format of Thursday’s debate is radically different not only from last year’s Trump town hall but also the first debate of the previous general election. Trump frequently interrupted CNN host Kaitlan Collins in front of a vocal crowd during the town hall, and he largely ignored the rules during the first live debate of 2020, with then-Fox News moderator Chris Wallace struggling to keep the event from devolving into complete chaos.

CNN will hold the debate in its Atlanta studios, and no audience will be present. CNN’s control room will also mute the microphones of candidates when it isn’t their turn to speak, which will prevent both parties from speaking out of turn.

The Biden and Trump campaigns didn’t immediately respond to a requests for comment.

The debate, which is being simulcast on other major networks including Fox News, MSNBC and CBS, is bound to give CNN a ratings boost at a time when it needs one.

The network is on track to have its lowest-rated month since 1991 in the prime-time 25-to-54-year-old demographic with just 94,000 viewers, according to Nielsen data, though that may change after Thursday’s debate. Presidential debates traditionally attract millions of viewers in the demographic.

CNN provided a detailed list of rules to networks simulcasting the debate. They include carrying the full debate feed unobstructed, referring to the debate as the “CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast" in promotional materials and having the CNN logo visible at all times, according to a copy of the rules obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

“It’s a massive get," said David Polyansky, a Republican strategist who has worked on five presidential campaigns. “The viewership is going to be astronomical."

Write to Isabella Simonetti at [email protected]