CNN promos Beto O’Rourke town hall

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CNN is planning a town hall with democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.

• If you’re thinking “wait, hasn’t CNN done that already?” the answer is yes — but with a catch.
• CNN hosted O’Rourke for a town hall back in October 2018 when he was running for the senate against Ted Cruz.
• O’Rourke would ultimately lose that election in the November 2018 midterms.
• However, his fundraising power and tight challenge against Cruz in a traditionally red state likely was the start of his momentum onto the national political scene.
• The 2018 town hall was therefore technically distinct from the one planned for May 21, 2019 since O’Rourke was not a presidential candidate at the time.
• The May 21 event will take place in the key state of Iowa and will be moderated by Dana Bash.
• O’Rourke was not included in the “marathon” of town halls CNN produced in April.
• Notably, CNN will air O’Rourke’s town hall event one day before the May ratings period commonly known as sweeps ends.
• Candidate Joe Biden also did not participate in a town hall during the April block, but he had not announced his candidacy at the time.
• As of May 15, CNN has not done a presidential town hall with Biden.