Former President Donald Trump came out swinging against a CNN moderator on Wednesday as she interrupted him and tried to school him on the facts of the 2020 election, the subsequent U.S. Capitol protest on Jan. 6, 2021, and other topics.
In the first major TV event of the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump refused to cave in as moderator Kaitlan Collins tried to get him to admit he lost the 2020 election and to disavow claims that it was stolen or rigged.
Minutes into his hourlong appearance, Trump declared that only “a very stupid person” would fail to see the problems with the 2020 election. He then said he knows that Collins, a former White House correspondent, is “not stupid at all.”
Then he called out Collins, saying, “But perhaps you are given an agenda.”
The former president’s exchange with Collins finally degenerated to the point where he told her: “You’re a nasty person.”
Trump drew applause from the crowd of Republican and undeclared voters at the event at St. Amselm College in New Hampshire, when he said, “Look, we have to have honest elections in our country … Let’s just win it again and straighten out our country.”
In a Truth Social post a day beforehand, Trump predicted the event could either usher in a “new and vibrant CNN, with no more fake news, or it could turn into a disaster for all, including me.”
Collins asked Trump whether he had any regrets about the events of Jan. 6. When she asked why he didn’t disavow violence sooner, Trump produced a printout from his breast pocket and began reciting tweets that showed he had urged people to be peaceful before, during and after the march on the Capitol.
“They thought the election was rigged. They were there proud, with love in their heart … and it was an unbelievable day,” Trump said, adding the crowd was the largest he had ever addressed.
Trump said he was “inclined” to pardon many of the protesters prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 event, which Democrats labeled an “insurrection.”
By Janice Hisle
