At the New Hampshire Townhall event on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump took charge of the conversation and addressed the audience directly on a variety of topics, ignoring CNN’s Kaitlan Collins’s politically biased and out-of-date questions. Collins repeatedly posed “gotcha” questions, attempting to set a divisive tone for the event with left-wing narratives on issues such as the results of the 2020 election, January 6, and the E. Jean Carroll case. Despite this, the former president basked in the enthusiasm of the crowd, receiving a standing ovation upon his entrance.
Collins broached the subject of electoral fraud in her opening remarks, insinuating that Trump’s presidency was illegitimate. However, Trump emphasized the importance of upholding the Constitution, stating, “We have elections, I mean. We have open borders; look at what’s happening on our southern border,” before moving on to discuss illegal immigration and dismissing Collins’s pressing questions about the 2020 presidential race.
As the conversation turned to the events of January 6, Collins asked Trump if he had any regrets about his actions that day. Trump recounted the events of the day, beginning with a peaceful demonstration, and stated, “I advised a more tranquil and patriotic route, among other things. Actually, I brought a list of things.” He noted that Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had rejected his offer for additional security and the National Guard. As Collins persisted in her questioning, Trump displayed receipts and read aloud specific words he had written on different dates, receiving applause and approval from the crowd.
Throughout the evening, Trump dominated the conversation and flipped the script on Collins, satirizing her questions and debunking the allegations against him. When Collins asked if Trump regretted his comments on the Access Hollywood tape, Trump remarked, “The reality, which is that famous people have advantages, still rings true.” Collins attempted to cut him off, but Trump continued, “Generally speaking, they fare quite well in a variety of contexts. This has been the case for about a million years.”
At one point, Trump called Collins a “nasty person” as she continued to interrupt and correct him. Despite Collins’s attempts to teach Trump about the Presidential Records Act, he maintained that he had every right to keep the papers he had taken from the White House under the act. Trump noted that other former presidents had done the same and that Vice President Biden also kept boxes of papers, claiming that the vice president was not authorized to reveal classified information from his time in the Senate.
Overall, the Townhall event boded well for the former president as he tackled Collins’s divisive questions head-on and received enthusiastic support from the crowd. Trump’s dominance throughout the evening left Collins visibly irritated and reduced her role as the moderator.