During a CNN town hall event on Wednesday night, former President Trump ranted about rigged elections and defended sexual abuse in true Trump fashion. Despite widespread criticism, the meeting, moderated by Kaitlan Collins, proceeded as planned.
Throughout the event, Trump made numerous allegations, lies, and rants about a rigged election, Twitter records, and the Capitol insurrection on January 6. He continually claimed that the 2020 election was stolen. Even though Collins allowed Trump to continue without interruption, the former President talked over her when she attempted to fact-check him.
Describing the day of the insurrection as a “beautiful day,” Trump referred to the assembled people as having love in their hearts and blamed the lack of security on Nancy Pelosi and the Mayor of Washington. He also presented a printed list of tweets, which he claimed was evidence of him calling for peace during the insurrection.
Trump made admissions that could potentially be problematic for future legal proceedings. He defended his comments on the Access Hollywood tape, which were part of the E. Jean Carroll case deposition that found him liable for sexual abuse. In the tape, Trump said powerful men could sexually harass or assault women.
Trump also stated that the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision was incredible for pro-lifers because it gave them something to negotiate with. He added that deals were being made on abortion rights, and positive things were happening because of it.
Collins attempted to fact-check Trump, leading to a moment of fireworks. At one point, Trump called Collins a nasty person.
CNN faced heavy criticism for the event, with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling it a platform for election disinformation and a public attack on a sexual abuse victim. Others criticized CNN’s new CEO, Chris Licht, for allowing the event.
Alejandra Caraballo, a Harvard Law School instructor and activist, described the town hall event as one of the worst things she has ever seen on air.
