It’s so interesting to me to see diaries and tweets criticizing Kaitlan Collins’ moderation at the hypercontroversial Trump town hall on CNN tonight. Full disclosure: I did not watch, but have been catching up on clips. I have to say, I’m astonished that she’s being criticized. Based on what I’ve seen, Kaitlan Collins should be absolutely commended for doing what pretty much NO other DC brainmelt “reporters” have found the spine to do: Challenge brazen Republican lies, and in an very easily digestible and relatable manner so as to educate the viewer. Of course it’s just my two cents and I don’t watch CNN, but unless Trump finds a way to avoid the mainstream media for the next 1 ½ years, he absolutely can’t handle the heat of another campaign vs. President Biden. We can crush Republicans in 2024!
One of the biggest reasons we are on the precipice of American fascism is because the media, ever since Trump came on the scene, normalized him by always splicing short quotes and clips in isolation to create articles & news clips, giving the false impression he could string together a coherent sentence and avoid sounding like the raging narcissistic sociopath he is. This made it easy for low-information voters to think that maybe Trump was a normal president/person. We all know the catastrophic consequences of that disgusting media normalization (baffling because they will be the first killed if the fascists take over).
In contrast, I think this CNN town hall did us a huge favor by confirming that Trump cannot withstand prolonged mainstream media exposure, even as decrepit as our DC press corps is. Just my two cents of course, but I think many normie/swing voters would probably be alarmed by the clips I’m seeing. It’s extremely refreshing to see a beltway reporter actually point out QOP brazenness and immorality so clearly and forcefully to show the American people what’s going on here. Cultists are another matter but if this is President Biden’s foe, I honest to god think we could have a 1964-style blue wave.
Do people honestly think CNN did Trump a favor with this??
Beyond the great line of questioning that clearly caught Trump off guard (because literally NO other DC reporters ever challenge Republican lies), her follow-up interruption — “what do you mean, not really?” — had me smiling and cheering! That is incredibly incriminating! I mean, that statement could easily be played at his future trial. I’m in amazement that CNN snookered him into agreeing to this, bravo!
Again, does everyone complaining about CNN giving him a platform think this performance actually helped him?? If anything it exposes, to me, how far gone he is for a larger, more mainstream audience that would never otherwise catch wind of his rallies or speeches. No more obfuscating his mental illness in such a long, unedited setting. We really need more of this so everyone can see how bat**** he is! Non-cultists will not react well to this. Some more:
Yes Trump talked over her, but that was also not a good look for him and the blunt clarity of her language is sorely missing from our decrepit DC press corps. Bravo to her for being real with the American people for once! So many “journalists” like the pathetic Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman have lost their way. “But Joe Biden didn’t ignore a subpoena to get those documents back like you did”. “Why did you hold onto those documents?” — again, when was the last time any Republican (all of whom defended him against the FBI raid) was challenged like that on the Sunday shows by ANY reporter? More:
“Your first term ended with a deadly riot at the Capitol”. “You still have not publicly acknowledged the results of the 2020 election”. “Back to what you said though, it was not a rigged election. It was not a stolen election” and my favorite: “It’s been nearly 2 ½ years, can you publicly acknowledge that you did lose the 2020 election?” I mean, again it's sad how rare this level of “real talk” is with the absurd, self-important DC press corps but credit to her! “Respectable”, “moderate”, “centrist” Republicans still wink and nod to the Big Lie and other egregious lies with zero pushback on the Sunday shows. No wonder the American people are so misinformed about the true state of our economy/country.
My hat’s off again to Kaitlan Collins. She pressed him on his failed border policies, asked him if he had Jan. 6 regrets and he said they were all there because they thought the election was rigged! So incriminating I’m squealing with joy. She also got him to call anyone who voted against him in 2020 stupid! LMAO! Is that supposed to be good for him?? I could easily see that in Biden ads. This doesn’t play well unless you’re in the cult.
Bottom line is that Kaitlan Collins deserves our praise, especially considering basically NO other DC “journalists” have anything close to a spine or a moral value. She knew how to “handle” Trump’s ego so that he never walked out, which would have deprived us all of an extended look at his lunatic ravings in a more mainstream (therefore damning) context. She is “polite” while devastating Trump with her sharp lines of questioning and well-timed interjections that elicited devastating responses from Trump. He probably will never agree to something like this again, thank you Kaitlan Collins!