(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Donald Trump used CNN to mop up the floor of a Town Hall in New Hampshire, deriding the fake news network for peddling disinformation and drawing loud cheers for his takes on everything from illegal immigration, abortion and the Second Amendment to pardoning J6 political prisoners and restoring election integrity.
“It took 25 mins and a member of the audience to ask Trump a single policy question. On our collapsed economy and skyrocketing inflation. All CNN wanted to do was push drama,” tweeted Human Events editor Jack Posobiec. But when the talk turned to policy, Trump turned up the heat, ripping the Biden regime’s open borders and the predicted chaos of ending Title 42.
Trump CNN Town Hall — Title 42 and the border, immigration policy – "tomorrow's going to be a day of infamy" pic.twitter.com/Moj7y5d0ho
— Deplorable4trump2024 (@PTRUMPFORTX2020) May 11, 2023
At several points during the Wednesday night event, Trump scolded moderator and network anchor Kaitlan Collins for her constant interruptions and distortions of his views.
“You’re a nasty person, I’ll tell ya,” Trump cracked at one point, drawing guffaws and cheers from the audience, in a retort sparked by a Collins harangue on why the former president had kept documents from his White House tenure.
BREAKING: Horrible interview by @kaitlancollins of@CNN. She won't even allow @realDonaldTrump to talk, broke all the ethics of journalism. Trump called her Nasty. WATCH pic.twitter.com/XayjZNeMbb
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) May 11, 2023
“It’s very simple. I was negotiating and we were talking to NARA – that’s Washington, to bring whatever they want,” Trump tutored the anchor about his interaction with the National Archives.
“They can have whatever they want. When we left Washington, we had the boxes lined up on the sidewalk outside for everybody,” Trump said. “They brought them down to Mar-a-Lago. We were negotiating with NARA. All of a sudden, they raid our house.”
The tutorial continued when Trump eviscerated Collins’s distortions about the former president’s actions during the J6 protests. When the anchor shamelessly pushed the fake news narrative that Trump didn’t respond appropriately and fomented violent insurrection, he literally brought receipts; in this case, what reportedly were tweets that showed him encouraging supporters to protest peacefully.
JUST IN: Donald Trump pulls out screenshots of his tweets from January 6th and fact checks CNNs Kaitlan Collins in real time.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 11, 2023
Trump said he would be inclined to grant pardons to a majority of J6 protesters who have been “persecuted” by the Biden Justice Department.
“I can’t say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control,” Trump said, while noting the damage, death and destruction caused by Antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters that had been given a free pass.
“I’m not trying to justify anything, but you have two standards of justice in this country,” Trump said of the J6 protesters who have been turned into political prisoners.
While calling the Capitol Police officer “a thug” who shot and killed peaceful protester Ashli Babbitt, the former president said justice once again was not served.
President Trump During CNN Town Hall Calls Out The Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbitt
"A person named Ashli Babbitt was killed. She shouldn't have been killed, and that thug who killed her there was no reason to shoot her."
"She was a good person. She was a patriot." pic.twitter.com/LJk5mIG0Hb
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) May 11, 2023
Trump doubled-down on calling the 2020 presidential tilt a “rigged election,” pointing not only to mounting evidence of vote fraud, but also to the role of deep state fabulists who pushed the Hunter Biden laptop story as Russian disinformation.
“That was a rigged election and it’s a shame that we had to go through it. It’s very bad for our country, all over the world they looked at it and they saw exactly what everyone else saw,” said Trump, who called for increased election integrity with Voter ID and a stop to fraud-laced mail-in voting and ballot harvesting.
MUST WATCH 🚨
CNN’s very biased Kaitlan Collins insists that President Trump lost the 2020 Election, and Trump spells it out for her.
“Most people understand what happened. That was a rigged election and it’s a shame that we had to through it. It’s very bad for our Country.” pic.twitter.com/Yo7L8aJx8G
— Alex Sheppard 🇺🇸 (@NotAlexSheppard) May 11, 2023
“If you just look recently with the 51 intelligence agents, that made a 16-point difference. If you look at the FBI and Twitter, they call it Twitter files, it made a big difference,” Trump said of impacts that compromised the 2020 election.
Trump played into the role of senior statesman when pressed on the topic of resolving the Ukraine/Russia war, declaring he could end it in short order.
“I’ll meet with Putin. I’ll meet with Zelensky. They both have weaknesses, and both have strengths and within 24 hours that war will be settled.”
President Trump promises to end the war in Ukraine in ONE DAY! pic.twitter.com/puY2KPcy4r
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) May 11, 2023
“If I am president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours,” said Trump. When asked if he wanted Ukraine to win the war, the former president showcased his diplomatic prowess.
“I don’t think in terms of winning and losing. I think in terms of getting it settled, so we stop killing all these people,” Trump said. “I want everyone to stop dying. They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done … in 24 hours, I’ll have it done. You need the power of the presidency to do it.”
When CNN’s Collins tried to end the Town Hall with a scripted gotcha question, asking Trump if he would accept the results of the 2024 race, the former president again broke out his media chops and tossed a hard right jab.
“Yeah, if I think it’s an honest election. Absolutely I would,” Trump said. “And you know what, if I don’t win, this country’s going to be in big trouble.”
Trump ended the night in much the same manner it started, with a cheering audience in rapture and a fake news network in tatters.
It’s called we do a little victory lap… https://t.co/NVmvfx0Dx1
— ReadyFrogOne7 🦁🇺🇸 (@ReadyFrogOne7) May 11, 2023
CNN you brought a Fox & put him in the chicken pen. What did you think he was going to do? The Fox went to work. Trump left CNN in shambles. https://t.co/gBCA0fIwWo
— Eric Pistey (@shawnpisteySC) May 11, 2023
Did CNN cut it short because Trump was doing SO WELL?
I’ve never seen a Town Hall get called like a “Mercy Rule” before.
Did that really happen? https://t.co/MOemyuO1Tu
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) May 11, 2023
