Former President Donald Trump had a series of ups and downs during the first half of his Wednesday night town hall in New Hampshire on CNN.

Trump repeatedly sparred with CNN host Kaitlan Collins throughout the event on a wide range of subjects, including his stolen election claims, the January 6 riot, a civil court ruling that he battered and defamed author E. Jean Carroll, the economy, energy independence, the debt ceiling, the Second Amendment, the border, abortion, the war in Ukraine, and more.

Trump claimed that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen for a good portion of the opening 45 minutes of the event and he refused to acknowledge that he lost.

“You and your supporters lost more than 60 court cases on the election,” Collins said. “It’s been nearly two and a half years. Can you publicly acknowledge that you did lose the 2020 election?”

“They found millions of votes on camera, on government cameras, where they were stuffing ballot boxes,” Trump said. “So with all of that, I think it’s a shame what happened. I think it’s a very sad thing for our country. I think it’s a very sad thing, frankly, for the world, because if you look at what’s gotten to our country, our country has gone to hell.”

Pressed by CNN's @kaitlancollins in a New Hampshire town hall, former President Donald Trump again refuses to concede that he lost the 2020 election and repeats his false claims about election fraud.

Follow live updates and watch now. https://t.co/prGSnWv2ZL pic.twitter.com/KXAqTktWzE

— CNN (@CNN) May 11, 2023

The former president defended his actions on January 6 as he blamed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser for turning down his alleged offer to send in the National Guard.

At one point, Trump pulled out notes to recount things that he said around that time about the need to respect law enforcement and to maintain peace. He did not answer Collins’ repeated question about why it took him three hours before calling for the riot to end.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP

Donald Trump takes out receipts LIVE on CNN “Let me pull it out” 🤣 pic.twitter.com/M20xVmXAst

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 11, 2023

When asked if he owed former Vice President Mike Pence an apology for the events of that day, Trump said that he did not because he claimed that Pence was in the wrong.

“No, because he did something wrong,” Trump said. “He should’ve put the votes back to the state legislatures and I think we would’ve had a different outcome.”

Trump said that he was inclined to pardon many of the people convicted of crimes during the January 6 riot, something that he has faced criticism over from some of his top supporters for not doing while he was still in office. Trump said that he was open to potentially pardoning some of the Proud Boys who were convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Trump aggressively pushed back on the ruling this week from a New York civil jury that ruled that he battered and defamed rape accuser E. Jean Carroll. The jury ruled that he did not rape her.

“This woman, I don’t know her,” Trump said. “I never met her. I have no idea who she is.”

Perhaps the strongest moment that Trump had during the night was when he spoke about the economy and energy independence.

CNN TownHall Voter: "On the economy, if elected again as President what is the first thing you would do to bring down costs to make things more affordable?"

President Trump: "Drill Baby Drill" pic.twitter.com/kmHgB4TE3N

— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) May 11, 2023

When asked about the U.S. debt ceiling, Trump said that Congress should default on the debt if the White House does not make cuts — which would result in serious economic and financial problems for the U.S.

“I say to the Republicans out there — congressmen, senators — if they don’t give you massive cuts, you’re going to have to do a default, and I don’t believe they’re going to do a default because I think the Democrats will absolutely cave, will absolutely cave because you don’t want to have that happen, but it’s better than what we’re doing right now because we’re spending money like drunken sailors,” Trump said. “You might as well do it now because you’ll do it later because we have to save this country.”

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.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP

“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.