Posted on 05/10/2023 10:46:13 AM PDT by conservative98
No questions will be off-limits on Wednesday night at the CNN town hall with Donald J. Trump. He can put 15 people of his choice in the audience but none are allowed to ask questions. And his team has not had a hand in guiding how the event will go, according to two people briefed on the discussions.
All of this adds up to no small amount of risk for the former president during the prime-time event, his advisers say — a risk they see as worth taking.
They expect tough questions from the CNN anchor and moderator, Kaitlan Collins — and have been anticipating questions about abortion, investigations into Mr. Trump and a civil jury’s finding him liable for defamation and sexual abuse in the lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll in Manhattan, a verdict handed down a day before the town hall.
But they also know he will mostly be facing questions from an audience of Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters in New Hampshire, the state hosting the first primary of the 2024 Republican presidential contest. It was the first state Mr. Trump won in 2016 and a place where he still enjoys popularity among Republicans.
Since the end of his presidency, Mr. Trump has largely been relegated to appearing on right-wing networks and podcasts. He has taken reporters aboard his plane now that he’s a candidate, but his team recognizes that he needs to start venturing beyond the fringe to gain access to a broader audience, particularly as a contrast to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who avoids the mainstream media. And CNN was willing to provide him that opportunity, several advisers said. The town hall will be Mr. Trump’s first appearance on CNN since the 2016 campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“You can’t just stay on certain channels all the time,” said a person close to Mr. Trump who was not authorized to speak publicly about the town hall planning. “You’ve got to start venturing out. And that’s a clear contrast to what other candidates may or may not do.”
What time is the town hall?
The town hall is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday (today.)
How can I watch it?
The town hall will stream live without requiring a cable log-in, on CNN.com’s homepage and across mobile devices via CNN’s apps for iOS and Android, on CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels,” or CNNgo where available. The town hall will also be available On Demand beginning Thursday, May 11, to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, the CNN OTT app, and Cable Operator Platforms.
Live, no editing, and no staged questions.
Honestly I dont see why he’s doing this, no one that watches CNN will EVER vote for him EVER
I don’t see how they expect the audience will be republicans or republican leaning given the state is at best 50/50. And, the 50% GOP is mostly GOPe. Then, add in this is a CNN event, I would expect CNN to manipulate the event tickets distribution and the result could be a very hostile crowd. He can handle a hostile crowd, just it is pie in the sky thinking that the crowd would be MAGA. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Not plan for the best, hope the worst doesn’t happen.
It worked in 2016.
It’s in CNN’s best interest to promote Trump as the 2024 nominee. I don’t think they will get nasty tricks going just yet? That part comes around this time next year.
The audience is 400 Trump supporters so it should be smooth sailing for him.
This isn’t going to go well for DJT.
Not the correct paradigm...Tons of people that ordinarily never watch CNN are going to be tuned into this.
And that’s a clear contrast to what other candidates may or may not do.”
Now THERE’s a cogent observation...PR people..
Trump will answer more unscripted “tough” questions in this one interview than Biden has done in his last 2 years. That’s the way to look at this....
How many questions directed to Trump will include the word “rape” in them?
I’m going to guess at least six.
that is one thing I have always liked about Trump, he will take risks others would not.
I’m not so sure it will go badly for him. This is usually his best format. Much better than debates, his social media posts, or news conferences.
I think both PDJT and CNN come out of this evening with wins.
He’s doing this for good or bad because he dislikes fox right now. When ratings come out on the event he will post about it at where he does his thing. He will shame fox and say, look at my views, etc etc.
Then each time...”Not going to answer until I see you ask Joe Biden about Tara Reade, or Bill Clinton about Juanita Broddrick.”
Me too.
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