Trump’s team revels in town hall victory as CNN staff rages at ‘spectacle of lies’

Questions also linger over what the network offered the ex-president in exchange for what some called a Trump infomercial

Donald Trump and his circle believe he got everything that he wanted from the controversial town hall hosted by CNN, even as it prompted a wave of outrage and embarrassed the network, including many of its own staff who were upset that it gave Trump a platform to lie to a large audience.

The former US president was interested in doing the town hall with CNN for two main reasons, people close to Trump said. There was an understanding that CNN would book Trump surrogates – which a CNN spokesperson denied – and because it would give the campaign vast amounts of material to clip for social media.