Student Claims loon CNN Rewrote Town Hall Question,
Told Him to 'Stick to the Script'
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A Florida student claims that CNN rewrote his question for the network's Wednesday night town hall debate on gun violence.
Colton Haab, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were shot and killed last week, says he did not attend the event when he realized it would be a "total waste of [his] time."
CNN denies that it scripted questions for any of the participants at the town hall, which was attended by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch.
On "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Thursday, Haab said he was contacted several days ago by a CNN producer who asked him to write a speech to deliver at the event, in addition to questions to ask.
He said after some back and forth, he was eventually provided with a question that was not his own words.
"They had taken what I had wrote and what I had briefed on and talked about, and they actually wrote the question for me," Haab said, agreeing with Carlson that it seemed "dishonest."
He said that's why he decided not to attend the town hall.
"Originally, I had thought that it was going to be more of my own question and my own say. And then it turned out to be more of just a script," Haab said. "And [the producer] had actually said that over the phone, that I needed to stick to the script."
When Carlson asked if he believes other students' town hall questions were reworded, Haab said "absolutely."
"Honestly, it was very shocking to me, because we just went through such a horrific tragedy," Haab said. "For them to take that and make such a big newscast over what they want to hear, it was very upsetting to me."
Shortly after the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" segment aired, President Trump took to Twitter to react:
Told Him to 'Stick to the Script'
< >
A Florida student claims that CNN rewrote his question for the network's Wednesday night town hall debate on gun violence.
Colton Haab, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were shot and killed last week, says he did not attend the event when he realized it would be a "total waste of [his] time."
CNN denies that it scripted questions for any of the participants at the town hall, which was attended by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch.
On "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Thursday, Haab said he was contacted several days ago by a CNN producer who asked him to write a speech to deliver at the event, in addition to questions to ask.
He said after some back and forth, he was eventually provided with a question that was not his own words.
"They had taken what I had wrote and what I had briefed on and talked about, and they actually wrote the question for me," Haab said, agreeing with Carlson that it seemed "dishonest."
He said that's why he decided not to attend the town hall.
"Originally, I had thought that it was going to be more of my own question and my own say. And then it turned out to be more of just a script," Haab said. "And [the producer] had actually said that over the phone, that I needed to stick to the script."
When Carlson asked if he believes other students' town hall questions were reworded, Haab said "absolutely."
"Honestly, it was very shocking to me, because we just went through such a horrific tragedy," Haab said. "For them to take that and make such a big newscast over what they want to hear, it was very upsetting to me."
Shortly after the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" segment aired, President Trump took to Twitter to react:
