Unless You’re An Idiot, You Saw It Happen

[ad_1]

The first words out of Donald Trump’s mouth Wednesday at CNN’s Republican Town Hall were an ongoing and still-truly bankrupt defense of his 2020 election denial, hardly a direct answer to host Kaitlan’s opening question Collins: Why should people vote for you?

“Because what we did was incredible, we had 12 million more votes than in 2016 … when you look at that result and you look at what happened in this election … unless you’re an idiot man, you see what happened,” he said.

As the show went on, Trump’s onslaught of election-related issues and other obfuscations sometimes turned vicious and personal, including a nasty smear of new winner E. Jean Carroll. At one point late in the broadcast, he called Collins a “grumpy guy” as he tried to regurgitate details about the investigation into classified documents.

Collins, who said in his opening remarks at St. Ansel College in New Hampshire that “no question is off the table,” Trump cited numerous legal problems and ongoing election denial theories before introducing the former president and Republican front-runner. He showed no discomfort in repeatedly challenging Trump, clearly saying several times that he was wrong and trying to press him on specifics but continuing to talk about many of his objections, and often speaking so fast that his objections didn’t even register.

Also Read: Former US Capitol Officer, Now CNN Analyst, Rips Network for Hosting Trump Town Hall: Its About Ratings and Money

“There is no evidence [election fraud],” he said, clearly addressing one of his many misstatements, before moving on to questions from the audience, which was made up of mostly GOP supporters and undecideds. “We have questions about the claims you’re making, from voters.”

“Will you suspend polarizing talk about election fraud during your run for president?” is the first.

The story continues

“Yes, unless I find election fraud,” he replied, again diverting his answer from the purpose of the question. “We should have voter ID, we should have one-day voting, we should have paper ballots.”

Collins also asked Trump if he had any regrets on January 6, 2021. He didn’t answer directly, instead plowing through a litany of his tweets, quotes from his speech, and other interactions. relationship that day as a defense.

“January 6 has to do with the fact that hundreds of thousands of people,” Trump said. “They were there with pride, they were there with love in their hearts … I was asked to come in and make a speech. I said ‘Walk peacefully and patriotically’ … we can go on sentence after sentence after sentence.”

Collins continued to push Trump’s many statements, including that Vice President Mike Pence’s reluctance to disrupt the certification process was a mistake, and could have changed the outcome.

“That’s not what happened,” he said bluntly, but Trump was undeterred.

Collins soon turned to the new verdict from a Manhattan federal jury, which on Tuesday found Trump liable for the sexual battery and defamation of author E. Jean Carroll and ordered her to pay her for $5 million, based on her civil claims that he raped her in 1996.

Also Read: Donald Trump Loses Defamation, Sexual Battery Lawsuit Brought by E. Jean Carroll, Jury Awards $5 Million

Trump immediately launched an attack on Carroll’s character, suggesting she called someone a “monkey” during a photo opp and suggesting her story sounded like a sexual fantasy. He also continued to deny that he knew Carroll.

“I don’t know who this guy is … it’s a fake story,” Trump said. “He’s a wack job.”

Collins also asked what Trump would do to restore the economy and fight rampant inflation.

“Drill, baby drill,” he said, belting out an old Sarah Palin rallying cry and drawing applause from the Trump-friendly crowd. “We have created the largest economy in history, the best economy in the world. We had this place rocking’ … We were energy independent. These idiots ended it.”

Collins changed topics, from gun control, the war in Ukraine and the classified-document scandal that led to the raid on Trump’s Florida property, then turned to a less urgent issue when it was discovered that there were also document Biden at his home in Delaware.

“The person with the most documents is Joe Biden!” said Trump. “He has 1,800 boxes of …”

“That’s inaccurate, and you know it,” Collins snapped. The two went back and forth on the topic, discussing specifics before Trump hit the name-call button: “You’re a rude person, you know that?”

Also Read:Trump Flames CNN as ‘Rightfully Desperate’ for Ratings Ahead of His Town Hall on News Channel

Collins, unfazed, shrugged off the insult and continued to dig into the details of the documents-scandal, masking Trump’s increased volume and aggressive stance as the town hall drew to a close. At one point, he asked if he still had any classified documents in his possession.

“Are you ready?” he answered. “No. I don’t have anything.”

CNN’s decision to host Trump drew heavy criticism from inside and outside the network, which has struggled in the ratings since the Republican president’s departure. With CEO Chris Lichts in office just over a year after Warner Bros. Discovery merger, CNN’s total daytime and primetime ratings for the month of April 2023 have doubled in terms of total viewers and viewers in the basic cable demographic among adults 25 -54 compared to April 2022, before Licht took over the network.

Following the controversial town hall, Collins may be offered the network’s 9 p.m. news slot, according to a Wednesday Puck News report. The 31-year-old former White House correspondent, who held that position at the Tucker Carlson-founded Daily Caller shortly after graduating from the University of Alabama, will certainly expand the centering shift already in the process. directed by Licht, who recently promoted Collins to the network’s new morning show earlier this year.

Also Read: All Eyes on CNN’s Trump Town Hall As Mainstream News Tries to Figure Out How to Cover Him – Again

[ad_2]