trump (convicted felon, defamer, insurrectionist, contemnor, and rapist - $537M)

[raison de arizona]

The audience is despicable. And horrible. And so is tfg. This is a shit show and they should never have given him the airtime.

[AndyinPA]

I liked the suggestions. Thread title updated.

[Kendra]

I have lost count of how many times I have flipped the bird at the laptop this evening.

[RVInit]

I am proud of myself. I'm tuned to MSNBC since VERY early tonight, didn't want to risk one minute of CNN shit show.

here is what I'm watching now:

[AndyinPA]

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/10/11753707 ... n-town-hal

During the unwieldy, more-than-an-hour long live town hall, in which Trump often talked past and over CNN moderator Caitlin Collins, whom he called "nasty" while she pressed him on a question, Trump lied repeatedly.

He did so on multiple issues in multiple ways, including:

continuing to claim the 2020 presidential election he lost was "rigged" (when it was not and that's been proven over and over),
that former Vice President Pence had the authority to send the election back to the states on Jan. 6 (which he did not),
that Pence wasn't under threat that day (which he was),
that Trump requested 10,000 troops to secure the Capitol on Jan. 6 (didn't happen),
that he had the right to take classified documents to his Florida home (he didn't) and more.

Many in the audience appeared to be friendly to Trump and laughed at his retorts. The audience, CNN said beforehand, was made up of Republicans and Republican-leaning unaffiliated New Hampshire voters.

[Phoenix520]

I’m waiting for someone to start a series on Twitter comparing parts of The Rise and Fall if the Third Reich with Twitler’s action now.

[Luke]

I am proud of myself. I'm tuned to MSNBC since VERY early tonight, didn't want to risk one minute of CNN shit show.

here is what I'm watching now:

It was more similar than you'd think!

[RVInit]

Good one, Orly!

[jemcanada2]

He could rape someone on stage at a rally, and some people would make excuses for him.

He’s sexually assaulted/dry humped several American flags on stage and his MAGAts seem fine with it.

[Greatgrey]

He could rape someone on stage at a rally, and some people would make excuses for him.

He’s sexually assaulted/dry humped several American flags on stage and his MAGAts seem fine with it.

IMG_3031.jpeg (157.94 KiB) Viewed 898 times

[Greatgrey]

[Ben-Prime]

My point remains that these cases need to be brought to light for the individuals involved and for whatever effect it has on society, regardless of the obvious intractability of MAGA. Drawing a comparison with a racist murderer like Chauvin; the goal of the trial was not to change him or his racist followers.

Yeah, I get it. I'm just worried that it won't matter. Before Trump and Access Hollywood, people resigned when these sorts of allegations were brought out into the open. Now it's like, well, let's see if we can weather this. I'm thinking of folks like Al Franken who resigned, and Virginia Governor Northam (blackface) and Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax (sexual assault), who did not resign. To me, this isn't about Trump or MAGA, but the overall effect that normalizing that kind of behavior is having on all kinds of people.

I think it precisely is a matter of pushing back the political-cultural Overton Window on this sort of thing to something at least more rational, for this very reason.

[Ben-Prime]

He's playing to the audience and this audience is putrid. Shame on CNN, this is stupid.

I know, it is horrible. But the audience is MAGAs and "undeclared" voters -- no Dems. What a crock of sh*t.

Perhaps the non-MAGA fans watching who are themselves on the fence can be pushed at the sight of how revolting it is/was.

[Lani]

I couldn't see much of it, but it was clear that trump was controlling the event. And why the hell was most of audience trumpists?

[MN-Skeptic]

I couldn't see much of it, but it was clear that trump was controlling the event. And why the hell was most of audience trumpists?

I'd imagine because Trump would never show up to an event in which the audience was not 100% for him.

[much ado]

I couldn't see much of it, but it was clear that trump was controlling the event. And why the hell was most of audience trumpists?

I'd imagine because Trump would never show up to an event in which the audience was not 100% for him.

Yes, that's what I thought as well. But I was hoping CNN would game it in some way.

Why did CNN do that? For ratings? Are there that many MAGAts? I don't really believe it.

[p0rtia]

Licht made Fuckhead a deal he couldn't refuse, and the deal was an audience of MAGA and "independents" (I heard, "right-leaning independents", but am not sure), and zero Democrats. The zero Dems is the killer element.

This was predictable and was indeed predicted, from soup to nuts.

Another sign of the wreckage.

[Foggy]

I didn't watch, but ol' Wifehorn thought it was good to show how crazy and dishonest he is, and she thought it would turn away more voters than it would attract.

But if I hadn't already quit watching the Tee Vee, I would boycott CNN forever. He won't participate in primary debates, so we'll just give him his own hour and a half "town hall". Fuck those people.

[RTH10260]

I couldn't see much of it, but it was clear that trump was controlling the event. And why the hell was most of audience trumpists?

I'd imagine because Trump would never show up to an event in which the audience was not 100% for him.

Yes, that's what I thought as well. But I was hoping CNN would game it in some way.

Why did CNN do that? For ratings? Are there that many MAGAts? I don't really believe it.

Can the Democrats now request a Biden evening in front of Democratic visitors --- as a free Biden election event?

[neonzx]

https://view.newsletters.cnn.com/messag ... cf50e3996d

Kaitlan Collins is as tough and knowledgable of an interviewer as they come. She fact-checked Trump throughout the 70-minute town hall. Over and over and over again, she told him that the election was not stolen. That it was not rigged. That there was no evidence for the lies he was disseminating on stage.

"The election was not rigged, Mr. President," Collins told Trump at one point during the event. "You cannot keep saying that all night long."

Yet, he did. Trump frequently ignored or spoke over Collins throughout the evening as he unleashed a firehose of disinformation upon the country, which a sizable swath of the GOP continues to believe. A professional lie machine, Trump fired off falsehoods at a rapid clip while using his bluster to overwhelm Collins, stealing command of the stage at some points of the town hall.

Trump lied about the 2020 election. He took no responsibility for the January 6 insurrection that those very lies incited. And he mocked E. Jean Carroll's allegations of sexual assault, which a jury found him liable for on Tuesday.

And CNN aired it all. On and on it went. It felt like 2016 all over again. It was Trump's unhinged social media feed brought to life on stage. And Collins was put in an uncomfortable position, given the town hall was conducted in front of a Republican audience that applauded Trump, giving a sense of unintended endorsement to his shameful antics.

CNN’s Oliver Darcy Reports CEO Chris Licht and Network are ‘Facing Fury of Criticism’ Within Company After Trump Town Hall

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-oliver ... town-hall/

CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy revealed Wednesday evening that CNN was “facing a fury of criticism” within the company following its controversial town hall with former President Donald Trump.

“It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening,” wrote Darcy in CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter.

While he praised the “tough and knowledgable” CNN host Kaitlan Collins for her attempts at fact-checking Trump’s remarks, Darcy said Collins was given “an impossible task” and “put in an uncomfortable position,” given that the audience was comprised of Republicans who mostly applauded the former president and laughed at his comments.

“And CNN aired it all. On and on it went. It felt like 2016 all over again. It was Trump’s unhinged social media feed brought to life on stage,” Darcy wrote, noting that Trump’s staffers were reportedly “delighted” with the event.

Darcy wrote that “CNN and new network boss Chris Licht are facing a fury of criticism — both internally and externally over the event,” before adding, “How Licht and other CNN executives address the criticism in the coming days and weeks will be crucial.”

“Will they defend what transpired at Saint Anselm College? Or will they express some regret? For now, CNN is defending itself,” he wrote.

However, many politicos, journalists and observers have criticized CNN for hosting Trump live on-air and accused the network of losing control over the interview.

“It was an interesting night. Mr. Trump’s first lie was told just seconds into the night with his false, familiar claim that the 2020 election was, quote, ‘a rigged election,'” said CNN anchor Jake Tapper following the town hall. “And the falsehoods kept coming, fast and furious, about the January 6 insurrection, about the threat to Vice President Pence, about Pence’s ability to overturn the election, about Covid, about the economy, and more.”

[Slim Cognito]

I don’t know what CNN thought they would accomplish with this clown show. If people want to watch right wing nut job media, they’ll watch Fox or Newsmax or OAN. Some of us watched CNN because, I figured, if both sides are pissed at you, you must be doing something right. But after last night’s ridiculocity, I’m out for good. Smart move CNN. You’re not bringing in any right wing viewers and you’re pissing off moderates and leftists. Consider your bridge burnt.

[RTH10260]

Toe-curlingly bad television: Trump’s torturous town hall backfires on CNN
Truth didn’t stand a chance as the former president talked too fast to be factchecked and too shamelessly to be interrupted

David Smith in Washington
Thu 11 May 2023 05.48 BST

The nausea came gradually, then suddenly, and with disconcerting familiarity. We had been flung back in time to the political hellscape of 2016. Only the second time around, it was somehow worse.

Donald Trump, the former US president appearing on CNN for the first time since that fateful election year, lied and lied and lied. He was a leviathan of lying, a juggernaut of junk, an ocean liner of mendacity that left little boats of truth spinning and overturning in its wake.

Trump called a Black police officer a “thug”. He made racist comments about Chinatown in Washington. He described host Kaitlan Collins as a “nasty person”. He made fun of a woman he sexually abused as a “whack job”. He refused to say whether he wants Russia or Ukraine to win the war.

Given the 45th president’s inability to change, it was the definition of shocking but not surprising. What may have come as a rude awakening to the pundit class is that many in the audience in Manchester, New Hampshire, were lapping it up and cheering him on. Some gave Trump a standing ovation as he walked in. Some clapped and hollered at his responses. Some laughed or put their hands to their mouths, visibly thrilled by his “Can he really say that?” taboo-busting.

Anyone taken aback by these reactions has not been paying attention to Trump rallies, where being outlandish and outrageous and cruel is the point. Although CNN’s decision to devote more than an hour of prime time to Trump backfired horribly, it did perform the service of forcing the American public to look at itself in the mirror.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... res-on-cnn

[neonzx]

EPIC failure for CNN. Although I give much credit to host Kaitlan Collins, who did not lose her composure when Donald more than once referred to her as "NASTY!"(a favorite insult he uses against women). Damn, did they draw straws to decide who would host that shitshow? Sorry, Kaitlan, for you drawing the short straw...

[p0rtia]

The aftermath, when CNN corporate tells us that they must be doing something right if the lefties are in an uproar, and that they are on the way to establishing their "neutral" status (on the model of Elmo), and congratulates the moderator for her poise under assault, is going to be vile.

Because sure, sending in a moderator into a sea of prejudice, hate, lies, and misogyny is what a news company is there to do.

[RVInit]

For CNN to show that they are not biased they could have hosted Asa Hutchinson or some other somewhat normal Republican. To put the king of lies on stage for more than an hour of what they should have known would be nothing but a Trump rally was just irresponsible.

I didn't watch it. And so far today I have not turned on CNN, although I did see a link to a Joran van der Sloot article about his extradition, clicked on it, turned out to be a CNN article. I went ahead and posted it but doubt that I will turn on CNN any time soon. I may tune in to Jake Tapper's show to see how he handles it, if he mentions it. He tends to speak his mind pretty easily.

The clips I saw on MSNBC showed Collins trying very hard to push back and fact check. I don't know how representative of the whole evening those clips were, but I got the impression that she did about the best anyone could have done under those circumstances without having the ability to just turn off his microphone.