Fox News' Hannity Hosting Trump Rival Following 45's Prime-Time Event
Former Vice President Mike Pence will appear on Fox News just as former President Donald Trump's live town hall on CNN is concluding Wednesday night.
Pence, a potential rival for the Republican presidential nomination, tweeted Wednesday, "Looking forward to sitting down LIVE with [Sean Hannity] tonight at 9:25PM ET. Tune in!"
Looking forward to sitting down LIVE with @seanhannity tonight at 9:25PM ET. Tune in! pic.twitter.com/ehtSdv04gH
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) May 10, 2023
The Dispatch journalist David Drucker tweeted that Pence's team deliberately scheduled the "Hannity" appearance to coincide with his former boss's CNN event.
NEW: @Mike_Pence appearing on @seanhannity's @FoxNews program this eve, opposite TRUMP's @CNN town hall, give or take a few minutes — deliberate scheduling by Pence's team, I'm told.
— David M. Drucker (@DavidMDrucker) May 10, 2023
Trump is slated to be on CNN for a 90-minute town hall starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.
The event will be moderated by "CNN This Morning" host Kaitlan Collins.
CNN says the town hall will take place in New Hampshire, and Trump will take questions from Republicans, as well as undeclared voters from that state.
Trump explained in a video posted on TruthSocial that he agreed to do the event on CNN because the network "is rightfully desperate to get those Trump ratings back."
"They made me a deal I couldn't refuse. Could be the beginning of a new and vibrant CNN with no more fake news or it could be a total disaster for all, including me," he continued.
"Let's see what happens."
The New York Times reported that the last time Trump appeared on CNN was 2016.
Pence is running a distant third in polling for the Republican presidential nomination, though he has not declared whether he will run.
The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows him with 5.4 percent, compared to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 23 percent and Trump's 52 percent.
DeSantis also has not declared his candidacy, but is widely expected to run.
Trump and Pence had a falling out following the 2020 election.
Trump wanted his then-vice president not to certify the Electoral College vote in order to give state legislatures a chance to further review allegations of fraud.
Pence concluded he was constitutionally required to certify the vote in his role as president of the Senate.
Pence has stated in multiple interviews that he and Trump have gone their separate ways since then.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
