My thread about Trump's CNN town hall starts here
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JD Vance on CNN dismisses Trump being found liable for sexual abuse and defamation as part of an effort "to destroy this guy through the legal process. Pressed on if he believes E Jean Carroll, Vance says "it's a he said, she said situation"
CNN is basically Trump TV tonight
"No questions are off the table, and we agreed to no conditions" -- Kaitlan Collins
Trump gets a big round of applause as he walks on the stage
Trump pushes the big lie during his very first response. Kaitlan Collins interjects that "it was not a rigged election." Trump responds by lying some more.
Kaitlan Collins to Trump: "Republican officials debunked those claims about fraudulent ballots"
"You have an agenda" -- Trump to Kaitlan Collins as she tries to debunk his lies about the 2020 election
"A lot of the people here probably were there ... it was a beautiful day" -- Trump on January 6
Elon Musk hardest hit
"I'm very proud of that video ... it's a beautiful video" -- Trump on his January 6 video in which he professed love for his insurrectionists
Trump calls the cop who shot Ashli Babbitt a "thug"
Trump gets a round of applause after he says Pence should've done more on January 6 to help him overturn his election loss
Trump says he intends to pardon "many" of the January 6 rioters
Trump doesn't close the door on pardoning the Proud Boys who were convicted of seditious conspiracy
the CNN town hall audience laughs as Trump smears E Jean Carroll
Trump swears on his children that he didn't assault E Jean Carroll
"Women let you" -- Trump defends his comments about the Access Hollywood tape from his deposition
Kaitlan Collins has pretty much given up on fact-checking Trump's lies. In fairness it's hard to fact-check this blizzard of falsehoods, which is the problem with giving Trump an open mic in the first place.
"We might as well do it now" -- Trump endorses a US debt default
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Trump: "We have a very big mental health problem in this country. And again, it's not the gun that pulls the trigger, it's the person that pulls the trigger."
Asked if he would support any new gun control policies at all, Trump says he would "very much harden" schools and again pushes the idea of arming teachers (so no, he doesn't)
Trump: "Getting rid of Roe v Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life"
Kaitlan Collins lets Trump slide when he lies about Democrats supporting the murder of born babies. Trump then refuses to answer a question about if he would sign a federal abortion ban, but indicates he's open to it.
"I did finish the wall" -- Trump
(Republicans will vote tomorrow on legislation that would resume construction on the wall, so ...)
Trump defends his family separation policy. Kaitlan Collins lets him get away with blaming the policy on Obama.
Trump indicates he is opposed to more military aid to Ukraine
CNN's town hall audience cheers when Trump brings up his first impeachment
COLLINS: Do you want Ukraine to win this war?
TRUMP: I don't think in terms of winning and losing
"He made a tremendous mistake" -- Trump on Putin
It's kinda jarring to watch Trump be treated as a normal presidential candidate minutes after he goaded a studio audience into jeering a woman who successfully sued him for sexual assault
"I took what I took" -- Trump on classified documents
"Not that I can think of" -- Trump doesn't exactly deny showing classified documents to other people
"You're a nasty person" -- Trump to Kaitlan Collins (the audience cheers)
Trump denies still having classified documents in his possession -- but in the next breath claims (falsely) that if he did, they would automatically he declassified
COLLINS: You asked him to find you votes
TRUMP: I didn't ask him to find anything
COLLINS: We've heard the audio
Trump says he'll accept the results of the 2024 election "if I think it's an honest election." And that's the end of the CNN town hall.
Jake Tapper: "The falsehoods kept coming fast and furious" (this is the issue with doing this sort of event with Trump!)
Whew. That Trump CNN town hall was a lot. If you appreciate the thread I put together breaking it down for you, please support my work by subscribing to my newsletter. I think you'll enjoy it and paid subs keep me going. Thx! publicnotice.co/subscribe
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