Former President Donald Trump on Thursday celebrated the demise of CNN+ after just three weeks by calling it a ’empty desert’ and mocking ‘low-rated’ Chris Wallace – a nemesis especially after the first 2020 presidential debate.
‘Congratulations to CNN+ on their decision to immediately FOLD for a lack of ratings, or viewers in any way, shape, or form,’ Trump said in a statement.
‘It was like an empty desert out there despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars and the hiring of low-rated Chris Wallace, a man who tried so hard to be his father, Mike, but lacked the talent and whatever else is necessary to be a star,’ he continued.
The ex-president added: ‘In any event, it’s just one more piece of CNN and Fake News that we don’t have to bother with anymore!’
Trump has previously expressed beefs against both CNN and Wallace – the moderator of the first 2020 presidential debate, which for the now ex-president was described by the Associated Press as ‘disastrous.’
![CNN+'s Chris Wallace, formerly of Fox News Sunday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/21/20/56894265-10740701-image-a-22_1650568989349.jpg)
Former President Donald Trump (left) celebrated the demise of CNN+ and mocked the network’s hiring of former Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace (right), who moderated the first 2020 presidential debate
![Former President Donald Trump had a field day with the announcement that CNN+ would fold at the end of the month just three weeks after it launched](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/21/20/56894253-10740701-image-a-27_1650569141091.jpg)
Former President Donald Trump had a field day with the announcement that CNN+ would fold at the end of the month just three weeks after it launched
Wallace’s father, Mike Wallace, was also a well-known broadcast journalist, and one of the original correspondents for CBS’ 60 Minutes.
Chris Wallace moved to CNN+ after leaving his Fox News Sunday program in December.
In the run-up to the September 2020 Cleveland presidential debate, Trump complained that Chris Wallace was ‘controlled by the radical left.’
‘Chris likes me because his world is all about ratings,’ Trump also said. ‘I would be willing to bet that he won’t ask Biden tough questions.’
Wallace and Trump memorably sparred in July 2020, when the Fox News Sunday host pushed back on the president’s boast about acing a cognitive test.
Wallace countered that ‘it’s not the hardest test.’ ‘They have a picture and it says “what’s that?” and it’s an elephant,’ Wallace noted.
‘No, no, no,’ Trump responded. ‘You see, that’s all misrepresentation.’
Trump’s complaints about CNN go back longer and he relished the news in February that boss Jeff Zucker had been ousted over not disclosing an office romance.
‘Jeff Zucker, a world-class sleazebag who has headed ratings and real-news-challenged CNN for far too long, has been terminated for numerous reasons, but predominantly because CNN has lost its way with viewers and everybody else,’ Trump said then.
While in recent years, Zucker and Trump were at odds, when Zucker was the president of NBC Entertainment he greenlit The Apprentice, which turned Trump into a reality television star, giving the real estate developer national name recognition that undoubtedly helped him win the White House in 2016.
Trump has long panned CNN for its coverage – with attendees at his rallies often chanting ‘CNN sucks’ near the press pen.
But at the beginning of his 2016 run, Zucker at the helm of CNN helped make Trump.
Zucker pushed the network to broadcast Trump rallies even before they started.
‘DONALD TRUMP EXPECTED TO SPEAK ANY MINUTE,’ the network’s chyron would read.
Trump, who has hammered the mainstream media for being critical of him, suggested Zucker’s exit would give CNN an opportunity to reboot.
‘Now is a change to put Fake News in the backseat because there may not be anything more important than straightening out the horrendous LameStream Media in our Country, and in the case of CNN, throughout the World,’ the ex-president continued.
‘Jeff Zucker is gone – congratulations to all!’ Trump concluded.
Zucker’s exit from the network came after he failed to disclose a sexual relationship with a colleague, which was unearthed in the probe over ousted anchor Chris Cuomo’s behavior.
In a memo to colleagues obtained by The New York Times, Zucker wrote, ‘As part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years.’
‘I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong,’ he said.
Zucker was dating Allison Gollust, another CNN executive.
Trump has long panned CNN for its coverage – with attendees at his rallies often chanting ‘CNN sucks’ near the press pen.
But at the beginning of his 2016 run, Zucker at the helm of CNN helped make Trump.
Zucker pushed the network to broadcast Trump rallies even before they started.
‘DONALD TRUMP EXPECTED TO SPEAK ANY MINUTE,’ the network’s chyron would read.
At the same time, Zucker and the Trump campaign would be back-channeling, according to recordings from Trump’s fixer Michael Cohen and reported on in The New York Times.
But as the Trump years went on, the network became more outwardly anti-Trump.
The Times’ Ben Smith wrote in a September 2020 column that the more anti-Trump version of CNN may have just been ‘Mr. Zucker’s latest reflexive adaptation in search of ratings.’
‘The other is that Mr. Zucker, TV’s Dr. Frankenstein, has been willing to dent his network’s nonpartisan brand in order to kill his runaway monster, Mr. Trump,’ Smith wrote.
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