Last night, Donald Trump walked into the lion’s den on a CNN Townhall, but the results were probably not what CNN or many viewers expected. I admit that I was surprised to find that what CNN billed as a “Republican townhall” actually seemed to have an audience of genuine Republicans, and not Bernie Sanders fan club members who claim to have voted for a Republican once, back when disco was king. I expected the usual hostile mob of Trump haters, but you could almost sense the shock and horror from moderator Kaitlan Collins when the audience laughed at Trump’s “insensitive” jokes and applauded when he said things Republicans agree with that give your typical CNN anchor the vapors.

It was noted that this show was scheduled to run anywhere from 75 to 90 minutes, but CNN ended it after 70 minutes. I don’t think that’s because Trump was tired of talking. That was more likely CNN crying “Uncle” and running away.

https://thelibertydaily.com/cnn-shut-down-the-town-hall-early-mercy-rule/

At the beginning, I assumed it would go as feared: Collins immediately launched in on January 6th and how Trump incited insurrection. When he tried to answer her with records showing he tweeted messages discouraging violence and urging the protesters to leave peacefully, she just kept talking over him and hectoring him with CNN/DNC talking points until it started to feel like Norman Bates was back in a dress and stabbing my eardrums with an ice pick.

https://www.westernjournal.com/trump-pulls-evidence-blazer-cnn-tries-lie-jan-6/

But she and her bosses had failed to reckon with the force of nature they were dealing with. They’re used to Republicans wilting before their barrage of bull, but Trump fights back. He immediately “went there,” responding to her description of January 6th as a “deadly” day by pointing out that the only person killed was Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed patriotic American shot at point blank range by a Capitol cop, described by Trump as a “thug” who later bragged about it on TV. Collins tried to argue with that, and her media colleagues later tried to paint the term “thug” as racist because the cop happens to be black, which I seriously doubt that Trump or any of Babbitt’s next-of-kin care about in the slightest. But they’re playing the race card because it’s all they’re got. We all know that if a cop had shot an unarmed BLM protester to death, he’d be doing hard prison time by now.

From that point on, all of Collins’ attempts to destroy Trump were like the Army men firing tiny pistols at Godzilla. Liberal commentators were melting down afterwards, not only over Trump’s comments, such as saying that he would pardon most of the J6 convicts because they were persecuted while violent Antifa and BLM rioters were released (that probably was news to regular CNN viewers) and quickly end the Russia-Ukraine war, which never would have happened if he’d been President (true that); but also over the fact that the audience applauded Trump’s statements and laughed at his jokes about E. Jean Carroll.

“What’s WRONG with you people?! You’re supposed to be filled with visceral hatred at the very sight of Donald Trump for unexplained reasons, like us!!”  

They’re furious at CNN for airing a “Trump infomercial,” which I can’t imagine is how CNN anticipated this going.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/10/trump-infomercial-backlash-erupts-cnn-hosting-former-president/

The media coverage is also filled with accusations that Trump told so many “lies,” if you use the current “inclusive” definition of “lie” as being anything a Democrat disagrees with, doesn’t want to hear, doesn’t want YOU to hear, or can’t answer. As for specifics, they were few and far between. They just want you to believe it was all “lies, I tell you, LIES!” and shut down his right to speak so they don’t have to tell you why what he’s saying isn’t true. It’s especially rich hearing this demand for honesty coming from people who spent years telling us that Trump-Russian collusion was real but Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation.

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2023/05/10/aoc-and-rick-wilson-hilariously-melt-down-over-trumps-cnn-town-hall-n744092

 If CNN was hoping for a ratings boost, they likely got that. But if they thought they were going to obliterate Trump’s 2024 president ambitions, that backfired worse than Alvin Bragg and his paper mâché indictments. All they did was expose their bubble-dwelling audience to the Trump they never see: not the fake racist nutjob image they created but the funny, blunt, energetic, take-no-garbage leader who draws huge crowds to political rallies. 

Trump being Trump, there were some impolitic and off-putting moments (I don’t think it was necessary to call Collins a “nasty woman” to her face), but at least with Trump, you know exactly what he thinks because he always tells you. Many viewers might find that refreshing, especially after two+ years of being subjected to real lies, like that Biden’s policies are a smashing success that saved the economy and reduced illegal immigration by 90%. They might also be amazed at seeing a President who can speak coherently without a prompter, even though it’s after 4 p.m.  

Here are some good links for more. Paula Bolyard at PJ Media offers nine key moments from the broadcast…

https://pjmedia.com/columns/paula-bolyard/2023/05/11/9-key-moments-from-trumps-cnn-town-hall-n1694324

Nick Arama at Redstate.com points out that CNN’s post-show focus group didn’t go the way they expected either. The first question for them was a leading one, asking if they wished Trump would stop talking about the 2020 election and concentrate on 2024. One of the focus group members pointed out to the CNN reporter that the very first question they asked Trump was about the 2020 election.

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/05/11/trump-dominates-at-town-hall-then-audience-focus-group-finishes-cnn-off-n744171

As long as so many media outlets are “fact-checking” Trump’s “lies,” let’s try that with CNN’s moderator…

https://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendment/2023/05/10/fact-check-cnn-kaitlan-collins-claims-more-200-mass-shootings-2023/

Trump wasn’t the only Republican who helped himself last night. Rep. Byron Donalds also deserves a standing O for how he dealt with the fuming CNN panel 

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/05/11/byron-donalds-just-levels-cnn-panel-in-brilliant-reply-to-their-trump-narrative-n744201

I’ll give the final word to our current President. After the Trump CNN townhall, President Biden (or whoever actually writes his Twitter tweets) tweeted, “Do you want four more years of that?” Choose your response:

1. YES!!!

2. That’s exactly the same thing I think every time Joe Biden appears in public.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/10/joe-biden-trump-town-hall-you-want-four-more-years/