Donald Trump has been persuasive despite aggressive questioning of CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, slammed writer E. Jean Carroll over her rape allegation, refused to say he lost the 2020 election, and defended his supporters’ actions on Jan. 6.
Collins asked Trump about Tuesday’s ruling in New York that blamed him for the sexual assault of Carroll in a Department article in the 1990s. Trump has denied the allegation. The town hall visit was his first public appearance since the verdict.
“What are you saying to the voters who are saying this will put you out of the presidency?” Collins asked him.
“There weren’t too many of them because my numbers just went up,” Trump said as the audience cheered and applauded.
The former president repeated his claim that he didn’t know Carroll, then repeatedly insulted her, accusing her of “handkerchief,” claiming she had a cat named “Vagina” and that she called her husband a “monkey.” He criticized US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who was appointed to the post by President Bill Clinton.
“This woman, I don’t know her.” I never met her. I have no idea who she is. I had a picture taken with her and her husband, the nice guy John Johnson, years ago. He was a news anchor, very nice. She called him a monkey, coincidentally he’s African American. “I called him a monkey,” Trump claimed.
“The judge didn’t allow us to enter that. Her dog or cat was called Vagina, the judge didn’t allow it to be recorded,” he added.
Trump also said of Carroll: “What kind of woman is it when you meet someone, bring them up and within minutes they’re playing a handkerchief in the dressing room? I don’t know if she was married at the time or not.” “John Johnson, I feel sorry for you.”
Donald Trump slammed writer E. Jean Carroll at CNN City Hall
In the first 30 minutes of City Hall, former President Nancy accused Pelosi of failing to secure the Capitol on the day of the riot and even pulled out notes on old tweets he posted that day.
The crowd at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire — made up of Republican primary and independent voters — cheered and applauded Trump’s signature maneuvers, which included verbal abuse, taking out props and passing remarks against Collins.
A small group of anti-Trump protesters gathered outside. Their signs carried messages such as “No one is above the law” and “Elections, no riots.”
Trump reiterated his false claim that he won the 2020 presidential election against Joe Biden.
“I think if you look at that result and if you look at what happened during this election, unless you’re a very stupid person, you see what a lot of people in that audience are doing and probably a few too who don’t, but most people understand what happened. “It was a rigged election,” Trump said.
He made this claim several times during the event.
“The election was not rigged, Mr. President.” “You can’t say that all night,” Collins told him.
Collins pressed him hard: “It’s been almost two and a half years. Can you see that you lost the 2020 election?’
Trump refused to budge, saying there was evidence of ballot fraud and that people had voted multiple times. This was never proven, and multiple recounts and lawsuits confirmed Biden’s victory.
A voter in the audience asked Trump if he would drop the voter fraud allegations.
“Yes, unless I see voter fraud,” he said.
“Let’s just win it one more time and put our country back in order,” he added to audience applause.
Trump was aggressively questioned by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins
He also criticized Biden’s handling of the situation on the southern border. Trump’s Title 42, which allowed officials to turn back migrants due to the COVID pandemic, expires Thursday. A rush of migrants across the border is expected.
“Look at what’s happening on our southern border,” Trump said. “Millions of people come in. They’re getting out of prisons.” They’re getting out of mental institutions and millions of people are pouring into our country and now they’re going to abolish Title 42, which I put in place that kept people out.”
Trump also defended his actions on Jan. 6 while speaking to supporters on the National Mall this morning.
“They were there with love in their hearts. “It was incredible and it was a beautiful day,” he said of his rally. “And what I was asked to do – I wasn’t very involved.” I was asked to come in and give a speech. I gave a speech and said go peacefully and patriotically.”
He then blamed Pelosi, the spokesman at the time, for the uprising.
“Nancy Pelosi—Crazy Nancy, as I affectionately call her.” “Crazy Nancy and the Mayor of Washington DC were responsible for the security of the Capitol,” he said. The Speaker is not responsible for the security of the Capitol.
As Collins pressed him about his actions that day, Trump reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a stack of papers to quote his old tweets.
“Let me get it out.” “I gotta get it out,” he said of the notes. The audience applauded and cheered.
“So if you look at January 5 – the day before – I said: please support our capital’s police and law enforcement agencies. You truly stand with our country and remain peaceful.” Remain peaceful. “That was the day before, and that was in the form of Twitter,” he said.
Then he noticed a video he shot just hours after the uprising began, in which he urged his supporters to go home. And he had a punch against Biden.
“If you remember, I made a video right outside the Oval Office in the Rose Garden and I’m very proud of that video.” I didn’t have a script. “Unlike a certain person in there, I don’t need a script,” he said, targeting Biden.
Trump is the lead candidate for the GOP’s presidential nomination – and a poll this weekend showed him beating President Joe Biden in the general election.
Trump has long maintained a strained relationship with CNN, which he derided as “fake news” as president, though former executive Jeff Zucker helped him get started on “The Apprentice.”
Now he’s being questioned by Collins, who tried to shove his staff from their seat in the White House briefing room amid strained relations between Trump and the press in general.
The then-President also banned Collins – at one point – from appearing in the White House Rose Garden in 2018 when he got upset over her shouted questions in the Oval Office earlier in the day.
In 2019, he mocked the journalist when she harassed him at the US-Mexico border wall.
“You ran your campaign and promised supporters that Mexico would pay for the wall,” Collins began before Trump interrupted. “Oh, here we go again,” he said.
“And that wall should be concrete,” Collins continued. “You just said earlier that the wall could be made of steel, and right now our government is shut down because your government is requiring the American taxpayer to pay for the wall.” So how can you say you’re delivering on your promise to yours Don’t redeem backers?
“A very nice question, so nicely asked, even though I’ve only just answered it,” Trump replied.
“I just told you that we just signed a trade deal. We’re going to take in billions and billions of dollars, far more than the cost of the wall, he said.
Donald Trump and CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at the start of City Hall
Wednesday’s town hall meeting marks Trump’s first appearance for a CNN interview since his election as president in 2016.
And former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted for Trump’s second impeachment during her tenure in the House of Representatives and sat on a committee investigating his actions during the Jan. 6 riot, launched a television commercial against him on Tuesday.
The commercial, which will air on CNN before and after Trump’s town hall meeting, warns viewers that the former president “poses a risk America can never take again.”
Cheney speaks the 60-second commercial but does not appear in it. It is funded by their Political Action Committee.
Trump’s appearance comes a day after a New York jury found him guilty of sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996 and awarded her $5 million in damages. The jury dismissed Carroll’s claim that she was raped, but found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation of Carroll after she made her allegations public.
He also has further investigations ahead of him.
Last month in New York, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to an alleged hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
He also faces an investigation in Georgia, where the Fulton County District Attorney plans to release charges this summer in the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the Peach State.
Two Justice Department investigations are ongoing against Trump: one related to his actions to attempt to overturn the 2020 election and one related to the classified documents found in Mar-a-Lago.
People protest outside a building on the Saint Anselm College campus where a town hall meeting televised by CNN is taking place with former President Donald Trump
Trump supporters outside the hall where City Hall will be held
Voters in New Hampshire stand for the Pledge of Allegiance before the start of a town hall meeting
Demonstrators were waiting in front of the hall
The jury debated for about three hours before reaching their verdict.
Trump refrained from participating in the civil trial and was not present when the verdict was read.
But he responded with an angry post on his Truth social platform.
“I have absolutely no idea who this woman is,” Trump wrote in all caps on his Truth Social website. “This verdict is a disgrace – a sequel to the greatest witch hunt of all time!”
And his campaign team said in a statement: “Make no mistake, this whole sham is a political endeavor directed against President Trump because he is now an overwhelming front-runner for re-election as President of the United States.”
Carroll told the jury that Trump assaulted her at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1995 or 1996, a version of events the jury believed, at least in part, although Trump was quoted as saying it was a hoax.
Trump’s statement that he did not know Carroll’s identity came after he was unable to properly identify her from a photograph at a potentially pivotal moment in the trial.
During his videotaped testimony, Carroll attorney Roberta Kramer had Trump view a black-and-white image to identify the group, to which he himself belonged.
When asked to identify a woman in the photo, Trump replied, “This is Marla, this is my wife.”
It was only with the help of his attorney, Alina Habba, that Trump found out that it was actually Carroll.
“I don’t even know who the woman is.” “Let’s see, I don’t know who — it’s Marla,” Trump said.
Carroll bowed his head as the verdict on the battery charge was read. As the libel verdict was read, she bowed again and nodded in agreement. She then stood up and shook hands with Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina.
Carroll left court beaming from ear to ear without commenting to the media, but was heard saying to the crowd, “We are very happy.”
Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct or assault by more than two dozen women, but this was the only case so far to end in front of a jury, casting another shadow over Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign
Carroll, 79, was suing for assault under the Adult Survivors Act, a law passed in New York that provided a one-year grace period for sexual assault lawsuits, which normally fall outside the statute of limitations.
Her defamation lawsuit was based on testimony from Trump, 76, as president, in which he called her a liar.
On Wednesday morning, E. Jean did her winning lap on the morning breakfast television shows and appeared on Good morning America and the TODAY show.
On Wednesday morning, E. Jean did her victory lap on the morning breakfast television shows and appeared on Good Morning America and the TODAY show
‘I feel fantastic! “Yesterday was probably the greatest day of my life,” she cheerfully told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
Carroll said she filed the damages suit against Trump only after he “pulled her through the mud.”
“I just decided to come forward and tell what happened.” I thought that was enough.
“Then he said horrible things about me, dragged me through the mud and rubbed my face in the dirt.” It was horrible. So I spoke to Robbie Kaplan and Robbie and filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump.
“And yesterday, it was this five-foot-tall, shrewd lawyer and this elderly 79-year-old advice columnist who finally held Donald Trump accountable, even though prosecutors, special counsel and investigators have been piling up all this legal battles against Trump.”
She continued her winning streak on NBC’s TODAY show.
“I’m overwhelmed, overwhelmed with joy and happiness and joy for the women of this country.”
She believes her case “shattered” the stereotype of the notion of a “perfect” sexual assault victim.
“Before yesterday, there was the concept of the perfect victim, who is always screaming, always reporting to the police, always taking notes on when it happened, and whose life is falling apart and was never meant to be happy.