‘Felt like Jerry Springer’: Donald Trump finds wide audience for narrow message on CNN

Donald Trump revelled in the opportunity to reach a broader audience with a prime-time appearance on CNN, but he didn’t broaden his message or tone down attacks.

Donald Trump's CNN town hall. Picture: Twitter

Former President Donald Trump revelled in the opportunity to reach a broader audience Wednesday night (Thursday night AEST) with a prime-time appearance on CNN, but he didn’t broaden his message.

Mr. Trump’s punchy performance in a live town hall thrilled supporters, repelled his critics and underscored his frontrunner claim to the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. That it came in New Hampshire, where the first Republican primary will be held early next year, may only advance that goal.

The Trump campaign’s strategy in returning to a network he has long attacked, people familiar with the issue said, was centred on the idea that he would perform well in a town-hall setting, and that he should court audiences beyond conservative media outlets. That goal included reaching moderate Republicans and swing voters, particularly women, he would need to win a general election.

According to Nielsen data released Thursday, CNN’s town hall averaged 3.1 million total viewers, easily beating Fox News Channel and MSNBC during the time period.

Kaitlan Collins moderated Donald Trump’s town hall. Picture: Twitter

Those viewers were met with his false and repeated claims that the 2020 election was rigged, a vow to pardon “a large portion” of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters and a mocking denial of the sexual-abuse case the former president just lost — a moment that drew laughter from some in the audience, which consisted of Republicans and undeclared voters who plan to take part in New Hampshire’s GOP primary. Mr. Trump stayed to the right on guns and abortion and refused to say whether he wants to see Ukraine prevail in its war with Russia.

His fans enjoyed the show. “President Trump went into the lion’s den and he came out victorious,” Texas Rep. Lance Gooden tweeted. Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs said, “President Trump dominated CNN tonight. He remains America’s leader.” Republican critics of Mr. Trump were again forced to reckon with his hold on the party. “He had a chance to move on from 2020. He didn’t do it. He had a chance to own some of the issues of January 6th, what his role there was. He didn’t do it,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said on CNN following the event.

“So, if you are an independent voter, if you’re a suburban mom, all these voters that Republicans are trying to bring back into the mix, I don’t see any of them being convinced by anything because it was just kind of a same old regurgitation,” added Mr. Sununu, who is considering an entry into the presidential race.

However a variety of pundits panned the event on social media, saying it gave Mr. Trump airtime to repeat lies about the election and make light of sexual abuse.

“The format was impossible and CNN’s bosses should have known that,” tweeted Charlie Sykes, co-founder of the Bulwark and a political commentator.

“It was the Hindenburg disaster of TV news,” Keith Olbermann, a former MSNBC host and CNN reporter, said in a video posted to Twitter.

The town hall wasn’t just a high-stakes event for the network. It was a big moment for one of its rising stars.

Kaitlan Collins, who moderated the town hall, has rocketed through CNN’s ranks over the past three years, from chief White House correspondent to morning show anchor to, now, a top candidate to help CNN Chief Executive Chris Licht remake prime time.

In the town hall, Ms. Collins was put in front of a sizeable television audience to spar with Mr. Trump as a crowd of more than 300 people — likely Republican primary voters — often cheered on the former president.

At times, Mr. Trump did talk about his record in office and criticised some of the president’s policies. A statement from his campaign after the event said Mr. Trump “laid out his vision to reverse the Biden Decline starting on Day One.” More often, though, that was overshadowed by his appeals to a conservative audience and his pugnacious style.

At times, the discussion turned personal, such as in one early exchange in which Ms. Collins said that there was no evidence of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. “It’s the truth, Mr. President,” she said.

Mr. Trump pushed back: “That was a horrible election,” he said. “And unless somebody is very stupid — and I know you very well. You’re not stupid at all. But you perhaps are given an agenda, or you have an agenda.” Later, when they discussed how Mr. Trump took classified documents when leaving the White House, he called her “a nasty person.”

Given a chance to weigh in on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s battle with Walt Disney Co., a subject that has made free-market Republicans uncomfortable, he dodged with a boast of his strength over his expected rival.

A super PAC supporting Mr. DeSantis said Mr. Trump spent his time talking about the past, including “his defence of his comments about grabbing women by their genitals” and “the federal investigation into his stash of taxpayer-owned classified documents at Mar-a-Lago … How does this Make America Great Again?” Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a declared GOP presidential candidate, said on CNN: “He had a weak performance and he’s locked in the past. He had a goal, I’m sure, to expand his base, to be able to prove that he can attract independents and suburban votes. He failed that test.” When an audience member asked what he would say to women worried about last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the right to abortion, Mr. Trump told her the decision was a great victory and bragged about his role in nominating conservative justices to the high court. At the same time, he refused to say whether he would sign a federal abortion ban.

Asked about the spate of mass shootings around the country, he declined to identify any new gun restrictions he would sign and spoke instead of arming teachers. “It’s not the gun that pulls the trigger. It’s the person that pulls the trigger,” he said.

Those answers on abortion and guns are pleasing to conservatives, but not necessarily swing voters, recent polling shows.

“Trump seized this unique opportunity to try and win a showdown with CNN by repeating his existing narratives rather than focusing on the future, ” said GOP strategist Ron Bonjean. “There was little expectation that this conversation was actually going to be productive and it felt much more like a sensational Jerry Springer episode.”

Mr. Biden, in response to the broadcast, tweeted: “It’s simple, folks. Do you want four more years of that?”

Dow Jones