9 Key Moments from Trump's CNN Town Hall: It 'Was Vintage Trump'

Paula Bolyard-Opinion : May 11, 2023
PJ Media

President Trump on mass shootings and the Second Amendment: "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. And we have to protect our Second Amendment rights."

[PJMedia.com] ...President Donald Trump took his talents to CNN on Wednesday night, answering questions from moderator Kaitlan Collins and New Hampshire independent voters. (Screengrab image)

Here are six key moments (scroll down for my takeaways from the town hall):

1. Trump doubled down on his claim that the 2020 election was rigged

Not surprisingly, the CNN moderator immediately went after Trump for denying the results of the election. "You still have not acknowledged the 2020 election results, but you are also under active federal investigation for trying to overturn the 2020 election results," Collins said. "Your first term ended with a deadly riot at the Capitol, and you still have not publicly acknowledged the 2020 election results. Why should Americans put you back in the White House?"

Trump replied, "I think that when you look at that result, and when you look at what happened during that election, unless you're a very stupid person, you see what happened. A lot of the people—out of the people in this audience and maybe a couple that don't—but most people understand what happened was a rigged election. And it's a shame that we had to go through it. It's very bad for our country. All over the world, they looked at it and they saw exactly what everyone else [saw]."

2. He defended his actions on January 6, 2020, and he didn't hold back when asked about it

Trump pulled out notes with Twitter and Truth Social posts he made that day calling for peaceful protests.

3. [Trump] defended pushing then-Vice President Mike Pence to send the Electoral College votes back to the states

Pence "made a mistake. His lawyer said, 'You cannot move.' I call them the human conveyor belt. I said, even if the votes... are absolutely fraudulent, he can say yes, or he can [send them back]... and the Democrats played it and the RINOs played it. And then the election was over. They told him he couldn't do it. And Mike said to me, 'I can't do it. The lawyers told me you can't do it. They can't do it.' The lawyers are wrong. Because right after the election, they all met, the RINOs and the Democrats, and they worked out a plan to make sure that future vice presidents don't do what I said you could do."

"That's not what happened," Collins pushed back. "You're referring to the electoral account. I read, I read that there is no authority. Legal experts, including Republican legal experts, say that he does not have that authority, Mr. President."

"But why did they change the law, and then, saying [sic] that you can't do it?" Trump shot back... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Click Here to continue reading, and to watch clips from the town hall.