For those who have changed memories of the guy?
Last night was a refresher ….
He has NOT changed….
He IS who he is…..
People may have knocked CNN for reminding us….
But?
They did us and their reporter a HUGE favor…..
But it also spotlights a trend that has occured since Trump ran since 20216….
The man DOES peddle his ‘entertainment’ side and it IS a hook that the media cannot pull away from….
CNN’s public argument for holding a New Hampshire town hall with former President Donald Trump boils down to this: Voters needed to hear from Trump directly because he is the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination.
One problem with that: His views are already well known. And Trump on Wednesday night remained committed to his lies about the 2020 election, continued to downplay January 6th, smeared women who accused him of sexual misconduct, and refused to back Ukraine against Russian aggression.
It was all spectacle and no sunlight—and it showed far more about those who put it on and attended it than it did about Trump.
CNN gifted a twice-impeached former president who incited a riot at the U.S. Capitol a primetime media event. Moderator Kaitlan Collins did an impressive job, but the horror is in the set-up. The event’s audience was stacked with Republican primary voters already inclined to support him, as evidenced by the fact that they repeatedly clapped, laughed, and cheered for him while he reaffirmed his most outrageous lies. None of this was urgent, even from a political perspective. The first primary is seven months away.
The first twenty minutes of the event were dedicated to rehashing Trump’s well-known lies about January 6th. He unfurled the firehose in quick fashion: He said the election was rigged, described January 6th as a “beautiful day,” said then-Vice President Mike Pence was never in danger and criticized him for failing to send the Electoral College results back to the states, denigrated the black police officer who shot Ashli Babbit as a “thug,” lied about giving an order to secure the grounds, and extended his offer to pardon rioters if elected.
Again, nothing new.
What the town hall really revealed is how committed the establishment media and the Republican party are to normalizing a political leader who has provably glorified violence against our American institutions and his political opposition. Even with all the fact-checks and critical analysis surrounding the event, what was laid bare is that even a former president under criminal investigation, one who just one day earlier was held liable for a sexual attack and defamation, will still be treated like any other popular candidate….
…
“The election was not rigged, Mr. President,” Collins told Trump at one point during the event. “You cannot keep saying that all night long.”
Yet, he did. Trump frequently ignored or spoke over Collins throughout the evening as he unleashed a firehose of disinformation upon the country, which a sizable swath of the GOP continues to believe. A professional lie machine, Trump fired off falsehoods at a rapid clip while using his bluster to overwhelm Collins, stealing command of the stage at some points of the town hall.
Trump lied about the 2020 election. He took no responsibility for the January 6 insurrection that those very lies incited. And he mocked E. Jean Carroll’sallegations of sexual assault, which a jury found him liable for on Tuesday.
And CNN aired it all. On and on it went. It felt like 2016 all over again. It was Trump’s unhinged social media feed brought to life on stage. And Collins was put in an uncomfortable position, given the town hall was conducted in front of a Republican audience that applauded Trump, giving a sense of unintended endorsement to his shameful antics.
Yes, some news was made. The town hall spotlighted his insistence on continuing to peddle 2020 election lies. Additionally, he said the US should default on its debt if the White House does not agree to Republican spending cuts, refused to say whether he wants Ukraine or Russia to win the war, and declined to give a straight answer on abortion.
But for most of the night, the nation’s eyes were transfixed on Trump’s abuse of the platform that he was given. At one point, he even insulted Collins, calling her a “nasty person,” to which the crowd of New Hampshire Republican primary voters broke out in cheers.
“We don’t have enough time to fact-check every lie he told,” anchor Jake Tapper candidly said after the event wrapped up….
…
- Trump called a black law enforcement officer a “thug.”
- He repeated baseless conspiracy theories about 2020.
- He lied about losing the 2020 election. (CNN’s Oliver Darcy tweeted: “I’ve lost count of how many times Trump has lied about the election. Collins keeps fact-checking him, but he keeps lying.”)
- He lied about calling for “terminating” the Constitution so he could be returned to power.
- He lied about his role on January 6th.
- He suggested that he would pardon many of the January 6th insurrectionists.
- He insisted again that Mike Pence should have overturned the election.
- He endorsed letting the country default on its debt, even if it would bring on an economic cataclysm.
- He claimed that residents of the Chinatown neighborhood in Washington, D.C., “did not speak English as part of an allegation that Biden stored boxes there after his vice presidency because he had nefarious ties to Beijing.”
- He refused to back Ukraine against Russia.
- He lashed out at Collins as “nasty woman” — and the audience CHEERED.
But this was hardly the worst of it. Actually, not even close.
The day after a federal jury found that the ex-president had sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll, Trump turned the episode into a joke, mocking and insulting his victim.
image…CNN Photo Illustration/Will Lanzoni/CNN
The audience?
Pure T White trash.
30% won’t get the President gig….