Liberals voiced their outrage at CNN on Wednesday after the network hosted a town hall with former President Donald Trump.

The town hall largely focused on the past — the 2020 presidential election, Jan. 6, and fact-checking what happened in Trump's presidency — and Trump's personal issues. At times, moderator Kaitlan Collins asked Trump questions related to current issues, like the border crisis, abortion, the war in Ukraine, and the debt ceiling.

It was Trump's first appearance on CNN since the 2016 presidential election.

Democrats, liberals, and Trump opponents lashed out at CNN and network executives for hosting Trump.

CNN employees, moreover, are upset about how the town hall went.

"It is so bad. I was cautiously optimistic despite the criticism. It is awful. It's a Trump infomercial. We're going to get crushed," one employee reportedly said.

Another reacted, "A disaster, and totally predictable."

Part of what drove the anger toward CNN is the fact that the town hall almost certainly helped Trump's campaign because, as Politico reported, his "biggest liabilities never looked so small."

The audience of Republicans and independent voters often cheered for Trump, applauded him, and laughed at his jeering remarks.

"For Trump’s rivals, it was a foreboding scene. Here was the former president getting grilled on some of his biggest vulnerabilities, and if the room at St. Anselm College was any indication, it wasn’t hurting him at all," Politico observed.

The TV ratings for the town hall have not yet been released. But it's almost certain that it helped CNN, too.

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