'I believe it was a very smart thing they did': Trump defends CNN amid town hall criticism

Donald Trump took to social media Thursday to defend his longtime rival CNN amid a barrage of criticisms for hosting his New Hampshire town hall.

Trump posted on Truth Social, his own social network he created after being banned from other platforms following the violent insurrection attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, to say he thinks the town hall was a great idea. The former president, as he often has been in the past, was focused on ratings.

"People are criticizing CNN for giving me a Forum to tell the TRUTH," he wrote in a two-part post. "I believe it was a very smart thing that they did, with Sky High Ratings that they haven’t seen in a very long time. It was by far the biggest Show of the night, the week, and the month!"

In a follow-up post labeled "Page 2," Trump implies that those on the left were afraid of his good points rather than disgusted by his mocking of a woman he was just found liable by a jury for sexually assaulting.

RELATED: Two-time Trump voter left unsatisfied with his response to her CNN town hall question

"The Radical Left screamed, 'Take it down, take it down,' during the Show, because they saw that I was making so many important points on the Border, Energy Independence, the Afghanistan Catastrophe, Inflation, the Economy, Russia/Ukraine, and so much more," Trump wrote. "Many minds were changed on Wednesday night by listening to Common Sense, and sheer 'Brilliance.'"