Trump participated in “CNN Town Hall”, which lasted about an hour, a program he constantly denounced as “fake news” during his time in the White House. In yesterday's episode, the Republican answered a wide range of issues, including the war in Ukraine, the debt limit, immigration and his numerous challenges in court.
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“Most people understand that what happened was a rigged election,” Trump said of his loss in the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.
If re-elected, he said he would pardon a “large portion” of the hundreds of his supporters arrested for their involvement in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
“They were there with love in their hearts,” the 76-year-old Republican added of the attackers who tried to stop the certification of Biden’s election victory, then underway in Congress.
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Favorite for the Republican presidential nomination for the 2024 presidential race, Trump refused to compromisepromehaving to accept, without reservation, the results of the upcoming race for the White House, when pressured by CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins, mediator of the event.
“If I think it’s an honest election, I would definitely accept it,” Trump said.
The former president also commented on the tense negotiations between Democrat Joe Biden's White House and Congress over increasing the United States' debt limit. In his speech, he called on Republican lawmakers not to do so if Democrats don't agree to the spending cuts.
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“I say that the Republicans out there, congressmen, senators, if they don't give massive cuts, you're going to have to default,” Trump said, before quickly adding that he considers this scenario unlikely.
On the war in Ukraine, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “tremendous mistake” by invading, but refused to say who he wants to win the war, or whether he would continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine if he were. reelected.
“I don’t think in terms of winning and losing. I think in terms of working things out,” she explained.
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“They are dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying and I will do it within 24 hours,” she added.
Trump criticized Biden for his handling of immigration. For him, this Thursday (11), with the end of “Title 42”, a policy implemented by him during Covid-19, will be a “day of infamy” along the United States border with Mexico.
“You will have millions of people entering our country”, he anticipated, suggesting that he would reinstitute the family separation policy at the border.
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“When you have that policy, people don’t come,” he said. “I know it sounds harsh,” he added.
'Four more years of this?'
The CNN stint was seen as the first big test of the 2024 presidential campaign for Trump, who, since announcing his candidacy, has held only a few rallies in front of crowds.
Biden, who announced last month that he will seek re-election, responded to Trump's appearance with a fundraising appeal.
“It’s simple, guys,” he tweeted. “Do you want four more years of this?”
The appearance on CNN occurred just one day after Trump was sentenced by a New York jury to pay US$5 million (around R$24,7 million at current exchange rates) in damages to the magazine's now former columnist. Elle” E. Jean Carroll. She accused him of raping her in the locker room of a Manhattan department store in 1996.
Trump vehemently repeated his denials and called Carroll “crazy.”
Still talking about legal proceedings, he said it was “the work of the Democrats” to undermine his pre-candidacy to be the Republican nominee in the 2024 election.
“They are doing this to interfere in the elections”, he minimized.
On the show, Trump had a series of testy exchanges with Collins, CNN's former White House correspondent, calling her a "nasty person" at one point while playing to a friendly Republican audience, who responded with repeated applause and laughter.
According to the broadcaster, the audience was made up of New Hampshire Republicans and undeclared voters who plan to vote in the state's 2024 Republican presidential primary, the first in the country.
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