Taking shots at CNN, former President Donald Trump apologized to ousted CNN CEO Chris Licht, whom Trump had praised for hosting his GOP presidential candidate town hall on the left-leaning network.
"Everything was beautiful, and they got tremendous numbers, and they fired him," Trump told the North Carolina GOP convention Saturday night in a speech that aired live on Newsmax.
"He's gone now. Mr. Licht, sorry about that. I'd like to apologize to Mr. Licht."
Licht reported "lost the room" among the employees at CNN over his move to host a town hall with Trump.
"Did you see the town hall with CNN?" Trump began. "They got one of the highest ratings they've had in like 11 years, and they end up firing the guy because it was Trump.
"Instead, they should celebrate: 'We had the highest ratings.' You're supposed to get paid for high ratings.
"But they had one of the highest ratings they've had in many, many years. I was on where the young woman, who I said was nasty. She was a very nasty woman."
Trump was referring to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who moderated the CNN town hall when Licht was the head of the network last month.
"It worked out very well, and they were all going: 'He owns you; he owns you; get him off," Trump continued, adding liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. "is screaming: He owns you! Get him off the air! Stop it! Stop it!"
Licht should have gotten a raise, not gotten fired, Trump said.
"You think if they had high ratings, that would be big. He should ask for an increase. And instead, they fired him, because I was allowed to put across," Trump continued, denouncing forceful opposition to political "points of view."
CNN should have gone more to the middle long ago, Trump said.
"They're doing so poorly in the ratings," Trump continued. "If they went to the center or even went a little bit right of center, and I thought they might be planning that. I think that's a good business strategy, because right now they're known as fake news."
Trump then joked a red light went off on a TV camera — a frequent joke at his rallies.
"Well, sorry about that," Trump said.
"But I thought they were going to be maybe a little bit more moderate and get their viewership up and really have a big evening.
"Look, it worked out well, but it didn't work out well for him," Trump said of Licht's ultimate ouster.
"It should have, because he actually did a good job in the sense it was very professionally done. Very professional."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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