At the “town hall” hosted Wednesday by CNN, former President Donald Trump got off to a horrendous start but later recovered some of his old magic, transcending an obnoxious CNN hostess to connect directly with his audience. But his shining moments still failed to make up for the massive baggage and delusional self-pity that would ensure a loss to whomever the Democrats nominate.
Neither CNN’s presenter, Kaitlan Collins, nor Trump disappointed. Collins systematically worked through the worst of Trump’s backward-looking legacy and ensnared him in outlandish statements that can only alienate the swing voters who chose Trump in 2016 and abandoned him in 2020.
He said only “stupid people” did not understand the election was “rigged,” but was caught in repeated misstatements about how many other Republican officials share this claim. Rather than concede Republicans must master Democrat practices that recognize there is no more election day, only an election month, Trump pined for a past of single-day elections and in-person paper ballots that won’t return anytime soon. He also relitigated every moment of January 6, getting caught in dubious claims on a topic that remains nothing but a liability.
Trump was also forced to defend at length the criminal and civil charges against him, as well as some potential ones still being considered by federal prosecutors. The audience of Republicans and independents was probably sympathetic to his arguments, but the fact remains that any Trump appearance will be consumed largely by relitigating the past or discussing matters like paid-off adult film actresses instead of policy. (RELATED: REP. BYRON DONALDS: There Is No Doubt Trump Is The Right Choice For America)
While CNN would have preferred to discuss nothing but Trump scandals, talk eventually turned to policy and here Trump improved dramatically from what had been a flagging performance. He dominated the interrupting hostess, whom he feistily called a “nasty person,” and put points on the board by vowing to return the southern border to the degree of security he achieved as president while reviving the economic boom he helped create before the COVID pandemic.
However, some of Trump’s trademark sloppiness with the details of policy turned up. When asked by an audience member about the crippling effects of Joe Biden’s inflation, he responded with “Drill baby, drill!”
No doubt the United States needs far more investment in domestic oil production, but that will do little to tame most inflation, and not anytime soon. What is needed is continued tight monetary policy with an unleashing of the supply side of the economy in the manner Trump achieved by lowering taxes and eliminating regulations in his three fat economic years before COVID. But Trump failed to make this case persuasively. Instead, he harped repeatedly on energy independence—something modern America never has had nor will have.
Trump was also evasive on abortion but did a good job of pivoting. Working from Democrat talking points, the CNN hostess badgered him repeatedly on whether he would sign a federal ban on abortion. He answered the same question at least three times. He said he needed to see what any legislation entailed, while pivoting to brag quite deservingly that he created a Supreme Court majority that enabled the elimination of Roe vs. Wade (Dred Scott’s hideous cousin in American jurisprudence) and noting that Democrats favored abortion right up to the moment of birth. A better answer is that the matter should be left to the states, but that extremely brutal procedures like late-term abortion are fair game for federal regulation.
The CNN hostess pressed Trump on raising the federal debt limit, echoing Democrat-media talking points that are trying to let Biden off the hook for not even negotiating over out-of-control spending and trying to blame the looming recession Biden has caused on Republicans for refusing to write Biden another blank check. Trump predicted a compromise between Democrats and Republicans.
Trump also impressed on Ukraine. He was badgered repeatedly on whether he wants Ukraine to “win its war with Russia,” with the hostess never bothering to explain what that would entail (probably because it would risk World War III with nuclear-armed Russia despite the lack of any compelling U.S. national interest). Trump instead patiently repeated that he wanted to the killing of both Russians and Ukrainians to end, and the role of the American president should be that of peacemaker. He was putting America first.
It still seems probable that Trump would lose to whichever Democrat leads their ticket next year, or who in the unlikely event of victory would lead a second term just as much of a disaster of botched policy and personnel as the first. It is time to pass the torch of leadership from the Boomers to Gen X. Trump started out the town hall horribly but, for those who watched past the first twenty minutes, showed someone still on his game and fighting with his heart in the right place.
Still, Trump cannot escape the baggage of his past and is easily faulted for dubious claims about past elections and personal scandals that win him no support from swing voters. It is time to move on to a younger, new president like DeSantis who can serve two terms and restore faith in the country’s future, including its economy and culture. We desperately need a successful, popular, two-term president and Trump cannot perform that role.
It’s doubtful that tonight’s “town hall” will change much. It showed that Trump can still be on his game, but is weighed down, perhaps fatally, by baggage, self-pity, and delusional self-involvement. He could never be seen favorably by a majority of the nation. It also showed that CNN cannot reform and will likely be tanked eventually by its new owner, Discovery. Looking ahead to when the presidential race starts for real with debates later this summer, not too much changed tonight.
Christian Whiton was a State Department senior advisor during the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations. He is a senior fellow at the Center for the National Interest.
This article first appeared on Super Macro.
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