The first 25 minutes of the CNN town hall on Wednesday night with former President Donald Trump were devoid of questions about the issues. Instead, Trump was peppered with questions about his 2020 election fraud claims, January 6, and writer E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit accusing Trump of rape.
Trump rejected pushback to his claims of a “rigged” election in 2020. When CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, who is moderating the event, noted that GOP officials have rejected allegations of election fraud, Trump shot back, saying they were “afraid to take on the issue.”
When asked if he would suspend “polarizing” talk of election fraud on the 2024 campaign trail, Trump indicated he would unless he sees evidence of malfeasance, in which case Trump said he would have an “obligation” to call it out.
“We should have voter ID, we should have one-day elections, we should [have] paper ballots instead of these mail-in votes,” Trump said.
Trump defended his conduct in the events surrounding the U.S. Capitol breach and said he would likely pardon a large number of January 6 defendants.
He was asked about the defamation trial in which a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, but not liable for rape. Trump called Carroll a “whack job” and insisted he did not know her.
Trump also stood by his comments in the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.
The event is taking place at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, an early-voting state. CNN said Trump will face questions from Republicans and undeclared voters who plan to vote in New Hampshire’s GOP presidential primary.
After years of calling CNN “fake news,” Trump explained in a Truth Social post on Tuesday why he agreed to make his first appearance on the cable news network since the 2016 campaign, saying that CNN “me a deal I couldn’t refuse!!!”
The network has faced calls for a boycott, as evidenced by the spread of the #BoycottCNN on Twitter, over its decision to host Trump for a town hall.
A number of people have criticized CNN, including one of its own analysts, former D.C. Metro Police officer Michael Fanone, who wrote an op-ed for Rolling Stone condemning the network for hosting the “guy who tried to get me killed” — a reference to January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
A statement from CNN explained why the network set up a town hall with Trump.
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“CNN has a longstanding tradition of hosting leading presidential candidates for Town Halls and political events as a critical component of the network’s robust campaign coverage,” the network said. “This event with former President Trump will be the first of many for CNN in the coming months as CNN correspondents travel across the country to hear directly from voters in the runup to the 2024 presidential election.”
Donald Trump, the nation’s 45th president, is seeking a second term in office as President Joe Biden faces low poll numbers. Ahead of what may be a 2020 rematch, Trump is facing a flurry of legal challenges, including a case in Manhattan in which he became the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged. Trump has broadly denied any wrongdoing.
Polls examining the 2024 election generally show Trump with a significant lead over the rest of the GOP primary field. The next closest Republican is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has not announced a campaign, but reportedly is moving in that direction.
