Ross: Trump town hall in the books, but does he still have support?
May 11, 2023, 8:12 AM | Updated: 9:01 am
Supporters of former US President and 2024 Presidential hopeful Donald Trump cheer as his mtorcade drives by outside Manchester airport in Manchester, New Hampshire, on May 10, 2023 ahead of his CNN town hall meeting. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
CNN’s Trump town hall is in the books, and from what I saw, despite the various ordeals he has endured, his self-esteem remains remarkably intact, and he is still 100% on-brand.
He promised to settle the Ukraine war in 24 hours, he has no idea who this “E. Jean Carroll” is, the January 6 crowd was full of good, hard-working people (many of whom he will pardon), and the 2020 election was rigged.
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Although I noticed he did not mention Dominion Voting Systems. I think I know why.
CNN, of course, fact-checked his statements, and I encourage you to read the list for yourself. But in case you don’t have the time, I can summarize the results: “misleading,” “not true,” “requires more context,” “this is a lie,” “no evidence,” “this is false,” “this is brazenly false,” “false,” “false,” and “this is patently false.”
Not necessarily in that order.
I happened to catch the focus group of Republicans and Independents interviewed after the town hall. It was an interesting vibe. You hear a little hesitation in the group and a little discomfort about the sexual assault stuff, but also sympathy and plain old confusion.
“You know, I don’t know what’s a lie anymore,” one person in the focus group said.
“I don’t think anybody wants to hear about 2020 at this point, everybody wants to hear about 2024, the future, and what comes after that, and he did not talk enough about that tonight,” another said.
“It’s time to move on from the election,” a woman replied.
“I definitely do think he believes it, and he’s very passionate about it,” another person in the focus group said.
“I think he truly believes it,” one woman said.
“It’s his opinion, and he has a right to have it,” another woman replied.
“I just don’t know how to what to think anymore,” a person said.
I know there were questions about why Trump wanted to appear on CNN — the network he hates most — but based on that last comment, I would have to say, ‘Mission Accomplished.’
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