Chronically the third-place cable news outlet, CNN was the little goblin biting at the ankles of Fox News, the cable news giant. So, of course, it brought CNN great joy to see that former President Trump had chosen to avoid taking part in the first Republican presidential debate, which was hosted by their rival. Senior media correspondent Oliver Darcy beamed on Monday as he boasted about Trump’s absence possibly hurting Fox News’s ratings.
“In two days, Republican presidential hopefuls are set to take the stage in the first primary debate. This one's in Milwaukee. But the front-runner, former President Trump, he will not be there,” announced co-host Victor Blackwell.
Blackwell also noted that Trump would be attempting to do some counter-programming. “Sources tell CNN the former President plans to sit down for an interview with former Fox host, Tucker Carlson instead. The interview is set to air on X, formerly known as Twitter, around the same time as the debate,” he added.
Being CNN’s toy-sized attack dog, Darcy yipped about how much Trump’s absence was supposedly going to hurt the first-place network:
But not going to the debate, that's going to hurt Fox News in the ratings. I mean, if you look at the 2015 primaries, the first debate that Fox News hosted with Donald Trump taking on the rest of the GOP field, that averaged about 24 million viewers.
People wanted the see Trump in that environment. And I think him not going to this debate, it's really going to put a dent in Fox News' ratings, which is why the executives were basically pleading with him, you know, they went to his Bedminster club and asked him to participate in this debate. We know that on-air, the hosts have been encouraging him to participate. It would be very beneficial for their ratings.
“Of course, he actually is feuding with Rupert Murdoch. So, I think he's very happy to take a sledgehammer to this,” he touted.
Co-host Poppy Harlow followed up with a suggestion that she was “not too concerned about what [Fox News’s] ratings” were, but was “concerned” about the “American people getting direct answers to important questions.”
She pointed out the obvious that the moderators, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, were “good journalists” and would “ask important questions.” “And so, that is a key thing; is that he's not forced to answer any of those. I mean, and aside from Kaitlan's interview in the CNN town hall, he doesn't really do tough interviews,” she said.
Refusing to acknowledge the facts about the moderators, Darcy chose to opine about how Trump wasn’t going to be grilled by other candidates and went right back to touting how it was going to hurt Fox News:
And so, him not going, he doesn't have to deal with that. He also gets to hurt Rupert Murdoch and he gets to go on Tucker Carlson, who's obviously going to lob softballs to him. And so, he gets that benefit, as well. So, I think politically, he's probably benefiting quite a bit from this. Of course, everyone else, maybe not so much.
As he was wrapping up the segment, Blackwell predicted Trump’s Twitter interview was going to be a flop too. “We saw how much of a challenge announcing a candidacy was for Ron DeSantis when he did it live with Elon Musk on what was Twitter then. But if he's putting this video up, yeah we'll take pieces from it, but it's not going to be something that the whole world shifts from the debate,” he figuratively scoffed.
CNN’s anti-Fox News cheering was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Sleep Number and Subway. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN This Morning
August 21, 2023
8:20:57 a.m. EasternVICTOR BLACKWELL: In two days, Republican presidential hopefuls are set to take the stage in the first primary debate. This one's in Milwaukee. But the front-runner, former President Trump, he will not be there. Trump made the announcement on social media yesterday afternoon, writing, “the public knows who I am and what successful a presidency I had. I will therefore not be doing the debates,” plural.
Sources tell CNN the former President plans to sit down for an interview with former Fox host, Tucker Carlson instead. The interview is set to air on X, formerly known as Twitter, around the same time as the debate.
CNN senior media correspondent Oliver Darcy is here. So, the debate is Wednesday. And then you've got the debate, you've got the former President. If he's trying to upstage them, putting a video on X, does that do it?
OLIVER DARCY: That's probably not going to do much. But not going to the debate, that's going to hurt Fox News in the ratings. I mean, if you look at the 2015 primaries, the first debate that Fox News hosted with Donald Trump taking on the rest of the GOP field, that averaged about 24 million viewers.
People wanted the see Trump in that environment. And I think him not going to this debate, it's really going to put a dent in Fox News' ratings, which is why the executives were basically pleading with him, you know, they went to his Bedminster club and asked him to participate in this debate. We know that on-air, the host have been encouraging him to participate. It would be very beneficial for their ratings.
Of course, he actually is feuding with Rupert Murdoch. So, I think he's very happy to take a sledgehammer to this.
POPPY HARLOW: Yeah. Okay. Aside from Fox ratings – I'm not too concerned about what their ratings are. But what I am concerned about is American people getting direct answers to important questions. Right? And that’s what they’re not going to get. And they're not going to get that if he doesn't go to this debate or any other debate.
Martha MacCallum, Bret Baier are good journalists. They’re going to ask important questions. And so, that is a key thing; is that he's not forced to answer any of those. I mean, and aside from Kaitlan's interview in the CNN town hall, he doesn't really do tough interviews.
DARCY: He really comes out the winner in not going to this debate. I mean, you really have to wonder why he would go, potentially, because he would be faced with hard questions, not only from the moderators, but from some of his rivals, like Chris Christie. Right?
HARLOW: Yes!
DARCY: And so, him not going, he doesn't have to deal with that. He also gets to hurt Rupert Murdoch and he gets to go on Tucker Carlson, who's obviously going to lob softballs to him. And so, he get that benefit, as well. So, I think politically, he's probably benefiting quite a bit from this. Of course, everyone else, maybe not so much.
BLACKWELL: Yeah. We saw how much of a challenge announcing a candidacy was for Ron DeSantis when he did it live with Elon Musk on what was Twitter then. But if he's putting this video up, yeah we'll take pieces from it, but it's not going to be something that the whole world shifts from the debate. It's just his absence that is the most valuable point for him.
All right. Oliver Darcy, good to see you in person.
(…)
