More CNN Turmoil: Chris Licht Isn't Going to Like Oliver Darcy's Response to His Scolding

AP Photo/Ron Harris

We’ve been covering the fallout from the Trump town hall and it’s been glorious.

Not only did the former president dominate the town hall to an audience who loved what he had to say, but CNN has also since been in turmoil, with Anderson Cooper even having to justify the town hall to their “traumatized” Trump-hating regular audience and the CEO Chris Licht having to scold media reporter Oliver Darcy about being “emotional” and the importance of sticking to the facts in his account of the event in his “Reliable Sources” newsletter. He claimed that Trump “lied” and that “CNN aired it all.” There were rumors that he might be the next one out the door and that some staffers and executives were reportedly incensed by Darcy’s blatantly biased and questionable framing.

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On top of all that, CNN took a big hit in their ratings, as we reported. On Friday, they came in fourth — behind Newsmax — in their primetime total viewers average. That’s a stunning move showing not only Newsmax’s surge following Tucker Carlson and Fox parting ways but also the anger of CNN’s regular liberal viewers against the network.

Now, the reports are that despite the scolding, Darcy — who had been reported as “visibly shaken” — is defiantly continuing to criticize the town hall and is now talking in his newsletter about how the ratings have taken a dive.

In the newsletter, Darcy cited a Mediaite article highlighting CNN’s primetime viewership dive on Friday using the staring-eyes emoji.

However, unlike the Mediaite article, Darcy invoked CNN’s “widely criticized town hall,” suggesting it’s linked to the ratings drop.

“Days after the widely criticized town hall with Donald Trump, CNN primetime on Friday averaged only 335,000 total viewers, drawing a smaller audience in the 8-11pm window than even the right-wing channel Newsmax. While it’s unclear if the viewership decline was connected to the town hall, it marked a rare ratings defeat,” Darcy wrote.

CNN viewership has fallen off a cliff since the polarizing town hall. The ratings-challenged network managed 2.3 million primetime viewers last Wednesday for the event that irked Darcy, but shed 77% of that audience the following evening when only 538,000 primetime viewers tuned in. As Darcy noted, CNN’s primetime viewership sunk even further to an average of 335,000 on Friday.

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He also attacked the conservative reaction to the Durham Report which confirmed how the investigation was “triggered and sustained” by information from Trump’s “political opponents,” despite even his colleague Jake Tapper saying the report was devastating for the FBI and that it “exonerates” Trump.

He later tweeted out the newsletter and claimed that he was “still here and still going strong.”

Darcy allegedly told colleagues he was wondering whether he should resign or if he will be fired by the network.

CNN told Fox News Digital, “Oliver does not intend to resign.” Break out the popcorn, it sounds like a boot may be coming.

I’m not sure I would bet on how long Darcy’s tenure will last, given the reports and the rumors, and I’m willing to bet that Chris Licht is not going to be a fan of having Darcy figuratively spit in his eye after calling him on the carpet.

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