Edited and revised: 5/12/23
Trump's CNN town hall was Trump unplugged from any constraints of social norms of morality or abiding by any laws or ethics. His fawning live audience of obviously mostly dedicated followers were just as unplugged and egged him on, laughing at his wisecrack response to softball questions as if he were a stand-up comedian. It also shows what we could expect if he got elected in 2024 with his second term. He, too, would be even more unplugged and consider himself free from conforming to the constraints of law or ethics since he would not have to answer to voters in 2028.
Here is what we would get if he won in 2024. In the town hall, this is what he promised us and it was consistent with his past. This CNN town hall served as a sharp, jarring reminder for anyone who may have forgotten. We could expect a president with a third finger raised against the rule of law and supporting and advocating the use of violence as a weapon of his political power advancement.
He would upend American foreign power by "settling" Ukraine in 24 hours. Putin had to be cheering this one. His unplugged remarks included his calling the victim of his abuse a "wack job", never knew the woman (his standard response to 24 or any other similar public accusers. ) He just ignored the jury of 6 men and 3 women in the same week that held him liable for his sexual abuse and defamation of E Jean Carroll. Carroll was a stand-in victor on behalf of every woman who had been such a victim, not just her, who also did not scream and report to the police when so attacked. This silence about abuse had been for good reason. since until the "me too" movement and a few brave women like Carroll who went public. She, too, faced, fearing she too would be subjected to public humiliation and additional abuse by men who blamed them as a way to avoid their own guilt. Trump's performance on CNN was exhibit number one of the reality of such abuse, as he continued to defame Carroll in spite of the $5 million fine levied against him by the unanimous jury. He was undeterred. from his pattern of behavior, a boasting sexual predator. and the same denial when any woman accused him, always the response which should be getting old by now.. He never knew them, but they were all nuts or sought fame or fortune. In the Carroll trial deposition, Trump claimed stars like him had been p grabbing and finger-raping for a thousand years, and, in the Access Hollywod tapes, he said women liked that when stars like him did it to them. His calling his CNN inquisitor a "nasty woman" got cheers and applause from his delighted audience.
He called January 6 violence a "beautiful day", full of those acting out of love (for him) and that he would pardon most of those 500 who have been convicted or pleaded guilty. More applause from his audience.
Those left in the GOP who still support him are equally culpable, turning a blind eye to all evidence to the contrary and swallowing his lies about the election being stolen yet dismissed for lack of evidence by 60 plus judges and the Supreme Court and the court of public opinion. The rules of law and its process, civil or criminal, are simply ignored and defied by Trump and his loyal followers. To what purpose? They and their candidates will have to answer to that in the 2024 campaign.
The CNN format gave Trump plenty of rope to hang himself even though he was not fact-checked in real-time. Not only did he admit to responsibility for taking the classified documents to his Florida home, but he may also have hung himself on some other prosecutorial charges in the works.
The most positive result from this town hall performance was Trump's gift he gave to the prosecutor's cases against him, admitting openly he took classified documents to Mar a Lago and said he had the right to show them to whomever. A sound bite we are sure to hear in political ads and prosecutors' evidence was regarding his admission on CNN that he "took what he took" of classified documents to Mar a Largo, not done by some staff error as his attorneys had claimed.. Unsettling to anyone concerned about US national security was his obvious avoidance of answering the question if he had shown them to anyone.
He doubled down in defense of accusations of his Georgia attempt to force Georgia officials to "find" the missing votes and took it a step further. He continued with the line the 2020 election was rigged. He simply asked election officials to "recalculate" the report of the count to reflect he won. It is not just "finding" the missing votes but just "recalculate".
Regarding his culpability and intent of his actions on January 6, here is the best evidence yet of his state of mind in those minutes of inaction. He was approving mob violence. It came from his own mouth on CNN: "It was a beautiful day.. full of love (for him)."
FYI Trump and your followers: Violence by any group redressing grievances is not protected in a democracy or in the Constitution. Peaceful protest and voting are or should be protected as the alternative to violence. For Trump, with his third finger raised against democracy, violence is "beautiful" if wielded by white people on his behalf. That is his promise to us in his second term:. It is not just chaos but violent chaos and those who commit it will not be prosecuted. Just "stand down and stand by".
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