Member-only story
THE DESCENT OF DONALD TRUMP
Trump's Town Hall Was a Joke
CNN is becoming the new FOX
What might have been an opportunity to set the record straight was instead an unmitigated disaster. The appointed mitigator, Kaitlin Collins, did her best to call him on his lies, but she was unsuccessful. The audience was hand-picked — and whoever picked them was not interested in either impartiality or truth.
Trump's lies were numerous and bundled together so that Ms. Collins couldn't do more than call out an occasional statement for correction while dozens of misleading statements and outright lies went unchecked — just as they always do. When she did land a solid correction, Trump's blank stare and the lack of any sign that her statement registered with the audience made the entire affair a disturbing spectacle.
As usual, he resorted to calling her "nasty" when she pushed him to answer questions directly. He also repeated, throughout the evening, his lies about the 2020 election being stolen — and while her consistency in correcting Trump on that point was admirable, it had no effect on the audience of "likely Republican voters."
From the questions posed by the audience, it was clear that none of them had any interest in the facts — they were there to validate their belief in Donald Trump, and they…
