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(CNN) The 2024 presidential election has only just begun, but former President Donald Trump has made it clear that the third White House bid will be very similar to the first two.
Can he stop lying about the 2020 election?
Did he regret his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot?
Will he go that route to win the support of moderate voters?
no no A resolute no.
Trump may be experimenting with new tactics in this campaign, running a more conventional campaign with less internal drama so far. But in a quest by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, the 76-year-old said Wednesday night that he is exactly who the American public knew him in 2016, during his four-year tenure and in the aftermath of his 2020 election loss. showed that there is
At City Hall, the former president talked about the possibility of a debt default as a minor inconvenience, didn’t mention whether he would support Ukraine over Russia in the war, and spoke out about family separation at the U.S. border.
Notably, President Trump has refused to raise a flag in the sand about a possible federal abortion ban. However, he made numerous false claims that he had an abortion “in his nine months of life.”
He repeated much of what he had said before. President Trump blamed others for the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots. He lied about his schedule for the day, suggesting he called his supporters to resign earlier than he actually did. He again criticized former Vice President Mike Pence for failing to overturn the election results.
He slandered former magazine columnist E. Gene Carroll the day after a federal jury in Manhattan found Trump sexually abused her in 1996, saying that Trump was accused of the leaked “Access He repeated the infamous comment from the “Hollywood” tape.
When the former president isn’t swearing at women, airing old grievances, or trying to rewrite history, he mostly dodges Collins’ questions and follow-up questions, and “considers his options.” ,” and did not promise anything in particular.
Unsurprisingly, the audience, mostly loyal to President Trump, supported this. As he has often noted, Trump’s position in the Republican primary polls is strong. On Wednesday night in New Hampshire, he showed why.
Here are eight takeaways from President Trump’s CNN town hall.
Trump criticizes Carroll
More than 24 hours after a jury found Trump responsible for sexual abuse and defamation charges against author E. Gene Carroll and awarded him $5 million in damages, the former president denied the charges. , said again that he had never met Mr. Carroll.
“This woman, I don’t know her. I’ve never met her. I have no idea who she is,” Trump said before making a bizarre remark about his ex-husband and pets.
Trump also dismissed a question about whether the ruling would undermine his standing with women voters, saying he was skeptical. Favorable audience responses to President Trump seemed to support his views, laughing off Trump’s jokes and disparaging comments about Carroll.
The jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll enough to charge her with assault, but did not find that Carroll raped her, but Trump did not prove that Carroll had raped her. I immediately pointed out the difference.
Carroll filed a lawsuit under the New York Adult Survivor Act in November last year. The law is a state bill that allows the reconsideration of allegations of sexual assault, which were previously contested by the statute of limitations.
Trump says Republicans should be ready to blow up the debt ceiling
The US is on the brink of a catastrophic default on its government bonds. Asked what advice he would give to Republicans in Washington, Mr. Trump was straightforward.
“If they don’t make big cuts, we’re going to have to default,” he said.
Trump expected the Democrats to “yield” to the current negotiations, but insisted a default would be preferable to the inability to stop the government from “spending money like a drunken sailor.”
The United States reached the debt ceiling set by Congress in January. This has forced the Treasury Department to begin taking so-called extraordinary steps to keep paying government bills. And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently warned that the U.S. could default as early as June 1 if Congress doesn’t address the debt ceiling.
Moody’s Analytics warns that a default would cost millions of jobs and intergenerational wealth. Impacts could include delays in Social Security payments, delays in payroll payments for federal employees and veterans, and more.
Trump vague about federal abortion ban
Trump repeatedly dodged questions about whether he would sign a federal abortion ban and how many weeks after conception abortion would be illegal.
He touted last year’s Supreme Court ruling in Roe v Wade overturning federal abortion rights as a “very big victory”, made possible by the appointment of three conservative justices. It was something
But Trump also acknowledged that there are rifts within the Republican Party over whether to impose a federal abortion ban and what the terms of such a ban should be. Democrats have won statewide referendums and judicial elections, emphasizing their support for abortion rights following Supreme Court rulings.
President Trump has said he supports waivers from the abortion ban in cases of rape, incest and the mother’s life being threatened.
“We have great negotiating skills now and I think we can get something done,” Trump said.
Trump won’t say if he supports Ukraine in war with Russia
Trump declined to say whether he wants Ukraine to win its war of aggression with Russia.
“I don’t think in terms of winning or losing. I think in terms of solving things so we stop killing all these people,” he said.
Trump hesitated again when asked to choose which side he wanted to win. “I want everyone to stop dying,” he said, promising to end the war within “24 hours.”
In the end, Trump retreated to two high-profile topics: calling for Europe to “inject more money” to support Western goals and soft-talking about Russian President Vladimir Putin. .
“He made a colossal mistake,” Trump said of Putin, adding, “He’s a smart guy.”
Trump said his mistake was “getting into” Ukraine, adding that it wouldn’t have happened if he was still in the White House.
President Trump says he will pardon January 6 mob
President Trump has shown no remorse for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Asked about former Vice President Mike Pence’s allegations that Trump’s actions endangered the lives of his family, Trump said he was under no obligation to apologize to Pence, saying he was not obliged to apologize to Pence during the electoral vote tally. condemned the ritual role of
“No, because he did something wrong. falsely claimed to have legal authority.
President Trump also said he would “pardon” many of the pro-Trump mobsters convicted in the Capitol attack.
He said he could not pardon “everyone” but that “most of them will be.”
He criticized the congressional police officer who shot and killed mobster Ashli Babbitt as he tried to crawl out of a broken window leading to the Speaker’s lobby.
Trump hints at possible return to family separation immigration policy
President Trump said he would return to one of the toughest immigration enforcement policies his administration has imposed, a policy of isolating immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The “zero tolerance” policy epitomizes the Trump administration’s relentless commitment to preventing immigrants from entering the United States, which Trump said remains a powerful deterrent.
“If I tell my family, ‘If you come, we’ll break up,’ they won’t come,” Trump said.
His comments accompanied Title 42, a Trump-era pandemic public health restriction that has become a key tool used by officials to deport immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, and were issued on Thursday. It is due to expire.
Trump repeats election fraud lies
Almost every time since leaving office, Trump has repeated lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
He also said he would not commit to accepting the outcome of the 2024 presidential election and would only do so “if we believe it to be an honest election.”
Collins said election officials in Republican states, including Georgia, have challenged Trump’s lies, and that Trump and his supporters have lost dozens of lawsuits over the 2020 election. bottom. But Mr Trump deflected and repeated his debunked allegations about voter fraud.
“I’m sorry what happened. I think it’s very sad for our country,” Trump said.
President Trump uses the same swearing tactics
Trump continued his long-standing habit of cursing Wednesday night.
Former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a “crazy woman.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential rival in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, is “DeSantimonius.” Pence is a “human conveyor belt” for rejecting Trump’s push to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The congressional officer who shot Babbitt is a “thug.” (The rioters, on the other hand, were “great people.”) Trump said Carroll was “a tough job.” When Mr Collins confronted Mr Trump about the documents he had taken from the White House, Mr Trump said, “You are a jerk.”
The jab is a staple of Mr. Trump, who has branded his rivals nicknames for the 2016 Republican nomination. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was “not in high spirits.” Texas Senator Ted Cruz was “Liar Ted”. Also, during a debate in 2015, when then-Fox News host Megan Kelly pressed Trump about his history of insulting women, Trump said of Kelly, “Her eyes were bleeding. “There was blood everywhere on her,” he lied.
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