Trump ignites fresh controversy after outlandish primetime appearance on CNN

[Eric Loh]

Trump may land himself in another defamation case after he mocked EJ Carroll again in CNN appearance. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/nyregion/e-jean-carroll-trump-defamation.html

[Hanaguma]

I think both sides got what they wanted.  CNN got ratings- nearly 10 times their normal for that time slot.  Trump got exposure and showed that he can still stand up to a hostile journalist.  The audience got to see that "The Trump Show" still has a few episodes left.  

 

Couple interesting points to me. First, CNN spent a lot of time and effort to set up the Town Hall.Then in the segment following it there were legions of CNN personalities crying and rending their garments, decrying THEIR OWN EMPLOYER for doing so!  A sight to behold.

 

Second, they need a better moderator and format next time. Kaitlyn (sp) was not up to the job, and as is normal with modern journalists tried to make the show about HER.  A Town Hall is to let the candidate and the people interact, not for the moderator to constantly interject and debate with the candidate. They spent more than 20 minutes talking about January 6, and about 3 minutes on the economy.  

 

Third, Trump is still an entertainer. He was also more disciplined in his answers than I saw in 2016.  I don't want him to be the candidate, but he is going to be hard to unseat.  Perhaps in the end, that is what CNN is hoping for.

[Berkshire]

9 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Second, they need a better moderator and format next time. Kaitlyn (sp) was not up to the job, and as is normal with modern journalists tried to make the show about HER.  A Town Hall is to let the candidate and the people interact, not for the moderator to constantly interject and debate with the candidate. They spent more than 20 minutes talking about January 6, and about 3 minutes on the economy.  

I don't know anyone who could have moderated any better.  A moderator can't just let the interviewee ride roughshod over her, spewing lie after lie unchallenged.  She must intervene.  In that sense, she tried her best.  But having a Trump-friendly audience didn't help. 

[Chomper Higgot]

20 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

I think both sides got what they wanted.  CNN got ratings- nearly 10 times their normal for that time slot.  Trump got exposure and showed that he can still stand up to a hostile journalist.  The audience got to see that "The Trump Show" still has a few episodes left.  

 

Couple interesting points to me. First, CNN spent a lot of time and effort to set up the Town Hall.Then in the segment following it there were legions of CNN personalities crying and rending their garments, decrying THEIR OWN EMPLOYER for doing so!  A sight to behold.

 

Second, they need a better moderator and format next time. Kaitlyn (sp) was not up to the job, and as is normal with modern journalists tried to make the show about HER.  A Town Hall is to let the candidate and the people interact, not for the moderator to constantly interject and debate with the candidate. They spent more than 20 minutes talking about January 6, and about 3 minutes on the economy.  

 

Third, Trump is still an entertainer. He was also more disciplined in his answers than I saw in 2016.  I don't want him to be the candidate, but he is going to be hard to unseat.  Perhaps in the end, that is what CNN is hoping for.

CNN are very rightly being criticized for giving a platform and microphone to a serial liar and sexual predator.

 

I believe both Trump and CNN will suffer the consequences of this exercise in lies, offering succor to insurrectionists and bare faced misogyny.

 

[placeholder]

24 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Second, they need a better moderator and format next time. Kaitlyn (sp) was not up to the job, and as is normal with modern journalists tried to make the show about HER.  A Town Hall is to let the candidate and the people interact, not for the moderator to constantly interject and debate with the candidate. They spent more than 20 minutes talking about January 6, and about 3 minutes on the economy.  

The format is whatever was agreed upon by the Trump team & CNN. But given the softball nature of the questions posed by this audience of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, it's not surprising that you would attempt to invoke some  convenient definition of what rules this interview was supposed to follow.

[Chomper Higgot]

What’s this ten times the audience claim?

 

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4001038-trump-celebrates-cnn-town-hall-ratings-many-minds-were-changed/#:~:text=CNN's hourlong town hall event,to Nielsen Media Research data.

[Chomper Higgot]

Let’s stick with the real event, Trump reminding decent Americans just how dreadful he is, while presenting evidence admissible against him to various criminal investigations he’s under.

 

Your attempts at whataboutary are noted.

[Chomper Higgot]

For a man who so frequently cites the 5th Amendment, he sure forgets how to use it when he had a microphone and a stage.

 

 

[Pink Mist]

Off Topic posts and replies have been removed.  The OP is not about the US's current President.  Stay on topic.

[vandeventer]

23 hours ago, Phoenix Rising said:

I, for one, am all for it! If he runs as the GOP candidate then President Biden's re-election is assured.

It pains me to say this but I am starting to like CNN.

[Isaan sailor]

Loved the “nasty person” comment.  And so did the audience.

Gotta wonder—did Biden get a standing ovation at the introduction to his CNN Town Hall?

[Bkk Brian]

8 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

It pains me to say this but I am starting to like CNN.

Good for you!! This from CNN Anderson Cooper

 

“If we all only listen to those we agree with, it may actually do the opposite. If lies are allowed to go unchecked, as imperfect as our ability to check them is on a stage in real-time, those lies continue and those lies spread,” Cooper continued.

“If you’re angry or upset, I understand. But you have the power to do something about it,” he concluded. “You can actually get involved. You can make a difference, whatever side of the aisle you’re on. After last night, none of us can say, ‘I didn’t know what’s out there. I didn’t know what’s coming.’”

 

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/anderson-cooper-addresses-disturbing-trump-025940399.html

 

 

[vandeventer]

7 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Good for you!! This from CNN Anderson Cooper

 

“If we all only listen to those we agree with, it may actually do the opposite. If lies are allowed to go unchecked, as imperfect as our ability to check them is on a stage in real-time, those lies continue and those lies spread,” Cooper continued.

“If you’re angry or upset, I understand. But you have the power to do something about it,” he concluded. “You can actually get involved. You can make a difference, whatever side of the aisle you’re on. After last night, none of us can say, ‘I didn’t know what’s out there. I didn’t know what’s coming.’”

 

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/anderson-cooper-addresses-disturbing-trump-025940399.html

 

 

But I can't stand Anderson Cooper.

[Eric Loh]

3 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

Please, it's CNN turning the right way, maybe?

Certainly the right way to allow the a full display of Trump's absolute disaster peddling falsehood, sexist remarks and unhinged comments on national platform. Even DeSantis campaign committee said in a statement "an hour of nonsense that proved Trump is stuck in the past". He's a volcano of bull<deleted>. Not doing himself much favor for the election bid especially from the woman voters. 

[Phoenix Rising]

5 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Certainly the right way to allow the a full display of Trump's absolute disaster peddling falsehood, sexist remarks and unhinged comments on national platform. Even DeSantis campaign committee said in a statement "an hour of nonsense that proved Trump is stuck in the past". He's a volcano of bull<deleted>. Not doing himself much favor for the election bid especially from the woman voters. 

And in the process his lying pie hole most likely earned him another defamation law suit. Well done, donny!

[Jingthing]

Depressingly fascist Putin loving Florida man's words have real world life and death consequences even though he holds no office.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/12/politics/trump-ukraine-russia-warning/index.html

 

 

"CNN — 

Donald Trump may have just put Ukraine on the clock.

The ex-president’s refusal to say whether he wants President Volodymyr Zelensky to win the war after Russia’s unprovoked invasion – along with his absurd claim that he could end the conflict in 24 hours – escalated the prospect that Ukraine’s destiny will rest in the hands of US voters next year.

The Republican frontrunner’s comments, in a CNN town hall meeting in New Hampshire, was the latest sign that the politics of the war in the US could become more strained as the 2024 campaign ramps up, creating new pressure on Zelensky’s coming offensive to deliver a decisive blow in the second year of the conflict."

 

[Hanaguma]

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

The format is whatever was agreed upon by the Trump team & CNN. But given the softball nature of the questions posed by this audience of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, it's not surprising that you would attempt to invoke some  convenient definition of what rules this interview was supposed to follow.

No convenient definition- everyone knows a "town hall" style meeting is intended as a way for a politician to interact directly with their constituents, and for the constituents to let their feelings be known without being filtered.  It was NOT an "interview".  The anchor used by CNN attempted to make it into an interview but was ultimately not successful.  The focus should be the audience and not the journalist.

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, Hanaguma said:

No convenient definition- everyone knows a "town hall" style meeting is intended as a way for a politician to interact directly with their constituents, and for the constituents to let their feelings be known without being filtered.  It was NOT an "interview".  The anchor used by CNN attempted to make it into an interview but was ultimately not successful.  The focus should be the audience and not the journalist.

So you think the CNN reporter violated the terms of the agreement with the Trump team? Can you share with us what those terms were?

[Hanaguma]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Depressingly fascist Putin loving Florida man's words have real world life and death consequences even though he holds no office.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/12/politics/trump-ukraine-russia-warning/index.html

 

 

"CNN — 

Donald Trump may have just put Ukraine on the clock.

The ex-president’s refusal to say whether he wants President Volodymyr Zelensky to win the war after Russia’s unprovoked invasion – along with his absurd claim that he could end the conflict in 24 hours – escalated the prospect that Ukraine’s destiny will rest in the hands of US voters next year.

The Republican frontrunner’s comments, in a CNN town hall meeting in New Hampshire, was the latest sign that the politics of the war in the US could become more strained as the 2024 campaign ramps up, creating new pressure on Zelensky’s coming offensive to deliver a decisive blow in the second year of the conflict."

 

Trump's answer on Ukraine was the correct and mature one (surprisingly). He wants Europe to foot more of the bill- that is good. He wants the fighting to stop and end the bloodshed. He thinks it is rather stupid to label one leader as a "war criminal" and then expect that same leader to participate in any kind of negotiated settlement. 

 

Nothing wrong with any of those positions. The Democrats have shown themselves to be surprisingly bloodthirsty on this issue, joining the worst of the warmonger GOP and seeming to be accepting of a possible larger scale conflict with Russia.

[Hanaguma]

3 minutes ago, placeholder said:

So you think the CNN reporter violated the terms of the agreement with the Trump team? Can you share with us what those terms were?

Did I say that? No straw manning please.  I simply said that the format of the event, which was sold as a "town hall", was not followed. 

[placeholder]

9 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Did I say that? No straw manning please.  I simply said that the format of the event, which was sold as a "town hall", was not followed. 

The US has had other hybrid town hall events which had both questions posed by reporters and by members of the audience. If this fit the classical definition of a town hall event then members of the audience wouldn't be vetted on the basis of their political leanings.

[Phoenix Rising]

13 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Trump's answer on Ukraine was the correct and mature one (surprisingly). He wants Europe to foot more of the bill- that is good. He wants the fighting to stop and end the bloodshed. He thinks it is rather stupid to label one leader as a "war criminal" and then expect that same leader to participate in any kind of negotiated settlement. 

 

Nothing wrong with any of those positions. The Democrats have shown themselves to be surprisingly bloodthirsty on this issue, joining the worst of the warmonger GOP and seeming to be accepting of a possible larger scale conflict with Russia.

Wow. Putin's Russia viciously attacks a peaceful neighbor and your concern is that Putin's feelings might get hurt if someone calls him a war criminal.

I must say you MAGA guys have made tying yourself into knots to defend the indefensible into an art form over the years. Well done!

[Hanaguma]

2 minutes ago, Phoenix Rising said:

Wow. Putin's Russia viciously attacks a peaceful neighbor and your concern is that Putin's feelings might get hurt if someone calls him a war criminal.

I must say you MAGA guys have made tying yourself into knots to defend the indefensible into an art form over the years. Well done!

No MAGA guy here.  Just being practical.  You want to make peace? Hard to do when you are calling the other guy a war criminal at the same time.  Or threatening to do a regime change in his country.

 

If peace is "the indefensible", then I plead guilty.    

[Phoenix Rising]

3 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

No MAGA guy here.  Just being practical.  You want to make peace? Hard to do when you are calling the other guy a war criminal at the same time.  Or threatening to do a regime change in his country.

 

If peace is "the indefensible", then I plead guilty.    

Do I want to make peace? It's not about what I want, it's about what the Ukrainians want, and I'm pretty sure they want the Russians to stop attacking them and to retreat.

So what is it really you thing the Ukrainians should negotiate about?

[Hanaguma]

4 minutes ago, Phoenix Rising said:

Do I want to make peace? It's not about what I want, it's about what the Ukrainians want, and I'm pretty sure they want the Russians to stop attacking them and to retreat.

So what is it really you thing the Ukrainians should negotiate about?

I am sure they do too.  But the devil is in the details. Retreat to where? Including Crimea? Who pays for the damages? Prisoner exchange? Future Ukraine membership in NATO or EU?  The US could apply pressure to get them both to the table.  But if your default position is 100% status quo ante, then the war will continue into the future and probably grow worse. 

[Chomper Higgot]

7 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

I am sure they do too.  But the devil is in the details. Retreat to where? Including Crimea? Who pays for the damages? Prisoner exchange? Future Ukraine membership in NATO or EU?  The US could apply pressure to get them both to the table.  But if your default position is 100% status quo ante, then the war will continue into the future and probably grow worse. 

You do know it was the Russians who illegally invaded the sovereign state of Ukraine? 
 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

24 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

No MAGA guy here.  Just being practical.  You want to make peace? Hard to do when you are calling the other guy a war criminal at the same time.  Or threatening to do a regime change in his country.

 

If peace is "the indefensible", then I plead guilty.    

I’ve never myself felt the need to deny being MAGA.

 

I guess because I don’t espouse MAGA / Trumpist views.

[OneMoreFarang]

I know some people just love Trump, and he can do and say whatever and they will still love him.

But how many undecided voters are still there?

How many people does he motivate to vote for him with all those lies?

And how many people (try to) watch this as a reminder never to vote for this guy? 

[Hanaguma]

3 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I’ve never myself felt the need to deny being MAGA.

 

I guess because I don’t espouse MAGA / Trumpist views.

Only when accused of it.   As happened here.

[placeholder]

2 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Only when accused of it.   As happened here.

You may not believe this but there are lots of people who post here saying words to the effect that they don't like Trump but...