After the media company announced that Donald Trump would be participating in the news network's prime-time town hall on Wednesday night, calls to boycott CNN have increased. This is just a day after the previous president was tracked down and obligated by a New York jury for sexual maltreatment and criticism against author E. Jean Carroll.


In the wake of the #MeToo movement in 2019, Carroll claimed that in 1996, Trump raped her in a New York department store's dressing room. The Republican claimed that Carroll was a "liar" and denied any wrongdoing, which led the author to sue the former president for defamation.


A jury found the former president liable for sexually abusing Carroll on Tuesday, but it did not conclude that Trump raped her, as Carroll claimed. The court requested him to pay $5 million in punitive fees. The case didn't include criminal allegations.


Trump will attend CNN's town hall at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, at 8 p.m. ET just over 24 hours after the verdict, which the former president and his supporters have minimized. Before the New York jury reached a verdict on Carroll's case, his attendance was first announced on May 1.


Trump will be fielded by CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins questions from Republican voters in the early voting state of New Hampshire who are attending the event.

The former president will make his first appearance on CNN in years at the town hall event of the company. Trump regularly chastised CNN columnists during his administration, once declining to take an inquiry from Jim Acosta while referring to him as "counterfeit news." After asking Trump about the so-called Michael Cohen tapes in 2018, Collins was barred from attending a White House press event.


However, CNN's decision to provide the former president with a platform has been criticized by many. One Twitter user wrote, "CNN has decided to treat Defendant Trump like a typical Republican, just a candidate for president." They will normalize his criminal behavior and serve as a Fascist spokesperson for ratings. Shameful."


"Blacklist CNN. Instead of giving IT a platform, they should have Liz Cheney! After sharing Trump's statement announcing his attendance at the event, wrote another Twitter user. Another person who was calling for a boycott of CNN tweeted, "CNN is hosting a sexual predator and seditionist tomorrow night."


"The verdict of today gives Trump's town hall a whole new perspective. After the civil case verdict in the New York case on Tuesday, another Twitter user wrote, "Shame on CNN for giving this dangerously unhinged sexual predator a voice."


However, even though the town hall event is getting closer, some people have spoken out in support of CNN. While respecting "peoples' right to boycott whatever and whoever the heck they want," investigative journalist Brian Krassenstein tweeted that Trump is still the GOP's leading candidate for 2024. CNN "should be used to show Americans both sides of the picture," he said in addition.


In his tweet, Krassenstein added: " I think it is completely insane to attack a news organization for questioning a former president who wants to be president again in a town hall setting. Americans are intelligent enough to listen to his responses and decide for themselves. They don't require news associations to conclude what they ought to or shouldn't see."


He composed: " Data is rarely terrible. CNN can expose Trump if he lies. Outrage and boycotts are not required for anything.


Trump himself has seemed undecided about his participation in the occasion. " The former president wrote about the event on his social media platform Truth Social. "Could be the beginning of a New & Vibrant CNN, with no more Fake News, or it could turn into a disaster for all, including me." Let's see what comes of it."