Like fake Russian collusion and missing airliners, CNN seems to have glommed on to coverage of the Wuhan coronovirus for dear life. Things have become so desperate that, since at least March, they’ve aired weekly “town hall” specials on the pandemic. No doubt, you remember the controversy over last week’s program, which included that health expert luminary, Greta Thunberg.

Anderson Cooper did NOT like people mocking CNN for featuring Greta Thunberg on their super science-y coronavirus town hall (Donald Trump Jr’s photo response is priceless) https://t.co/MAevePyzft

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 15, 2020

But things weren’t much better on the previous week’s program, which included former vice president and eco-guru Al Gore and director Spike Lee.

Our friends at Townhall noticed back in early April that the network let a Trump Derangement Syndrome question slip through, during one panel segment. So, maybe the producers are getting a little sloppy.

Over the years, though, coverage of Donald Trump has meant good ratings for CNN. As a 2016 Atlantic article noted:

There is another interesting wrinkle to the Trump Effect: The viewership growth wasn’t evenly spread across networks. One network, CNN, gobbled up the majority of new viewers.

CNN’s primetime viewership rose 38 percent in 2015. Fox News, on the other hand, basically flatlined (up 3 percent) and MSNBC’s audience actually declined. So what appears to have been a “Trump Effect” for cable news is, more precisely, a Trump Effect for CNN.

In fact, Forbes reported that on election night 2016, the cable network earned 13.3 million total viewers, which was a primetime record for them.

This week, maybe they figured they oughta go back to what works. Not only did CNN show Dr. Fauci from Vice President Pence’s White House Coronavirus Task Force, alone and on a panel with the network’s go-to medical expert, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, they included a… Trump!

“We will only get through this with patience, compassion and care,” first lady Melania Trump said. “Tonight, please know that the president and I are with you during these challenging times and we continue to do everything we can to support you.” https://t.co/bFUwh0IyLS

— The Hill (@thehill) May 22, 2020

There’s no other way to say it: The Twitter video of First Lady Melania Trump’s pre-taped message to students affected by COVID-19 school closures, which was played near the end of the town hall, blew the other segments away. At the time of this writing, it had garnered 25,000 likes — while the others have managed to eked out respectable, double-digit activity.

You can watch her full statement below:

First lady Melania Trump thanked students for helping to keep the country safe and acknowledged recent changes they’ve had to make.

“Please know that the President and I are with you during these challenging times and will do everything we can do to support you." #CNNTownHall pic.twitter.com/XnkIqInEMw

— CNN (@CNN) May 22, 2020