Former President Donald Trump had a series of ups and downs during the
first half of his Wednesday night town hall in New Hampshire on CNN.

Trump repeatedly sparred with CNN host Kaitlan Collins throughout the
event on a wide range of subjects, including his stolen election
claims, the January 6 riot, a civil court ruling that he battered and
defamed author E. Jean Carroll, the economy, energy independence, the
debt ceiling, the Second Amendment, the border, abortion, the war in
Ukraine, and more.

Trump claimed that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen
for a good portion of the opening 45 minutes of the event and he
refused to acknowledge that he lost.

�You and your supporters lost more than 60 court cases on the
election,� Collins said. �It�s been nearly two and a half years. Can
you publicly acknowledge that you did lose the 2020 election?�

�They found millions of votes on camera, on government cameras, where
they were stuffing ballot boxes,� Trump said. �So with all of that, I
think it�s a shame what happened. I think it�s a very sad thing for our
country. I think it�s a very sad thing, frankly, for the world, because
if you look at what�s gotten to our country, our country has gone to
hell.�

Pressed by CNN's @kaitlancollins in a New Hampshire town hall,
former President Donald Trump again refuses to concede that he
lost the 2020 election and repeats his false claims about
election fraud.

Follow live updates and watch now. https://t.co/prGSnWv2ZL
pic.twitter.com/KXAqTktWzE

� CNN (@CNN) May 11, 2023

The former president defended his actions on January 6 as he blamed
former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Washington, D.C., Mayor
Muriel Bowser for turning down his alleged offer to send in the
National Guard.

At one point, Trump pulled out notes to recount things that he said
around that time about the need to respect law enforcement and to
maintain peace. He did not answer Collins� repeated question about why
it took him three hours before calling for the riot to end.

Donald Trump takes out receipts LIVE on CNN �Let me pull it
out� ?? pic.twitter.com/M20xVmXAst

� Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 11, 2023

When asked if he owed former Vice President Mike Pence an apology for
the events of that day, Trump said that he did not because he claimed
that Pence was in the wrong.

�No, because he did something wrong,� Trump said. �He should�ve put the
votes back to the state legislatures and I think we would�ve had a
different outcome.�

Trump said that he was inclined to pardon many of the people convicted
of crimes during the January 6 riot, something that he has faced
criticism over from some of his top supporters for not doing while he
was still in office. Trump said that he was open to potentially
pardoning some of the Proud Boys who were convicted of seditious
conspiracy.

Trump aggressively pushed back on the ruling this week from a New York
civil jury that ruled that he battered and defamed rape accuser E. Jean
Carroll. The jury ruled that he did not rape her.

�This woman, I don�t know her,� Trump said. �I never met her. I have no
idea who she is.�

Perhaps the strongest moment that Trump had during the night was when
he spoke about the economy and energy independence.

CNN TownHall Voter: "On the economy, if elected again as
President what is the first thing you would do to bring down
costs to make things more affordable?"

President Trump: "Drill Baby Drill"
pic.twitter.com/kmHgB4TE3N

� Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) May 11, 2023

When asked about the U.S. debt ceiling, Trump said that Congress should
default on the debt if the White House does not make cuts � which would
result in serious economic and financial problems for the U.S.

�I say to the Republicans out there � congressmen, senators � if they
don�t give you massive cuts, you�re going to have to do a default, and
I don�t believe they�re going to do a default because I think the
Democrats will absolutely cave, will absolutely cave because you don�t
want to have that happen, but it�s better than what we�re doing right
now because we�re spending money like drunken sailors,� Trump said.
�You might as well do it now because you�ll do it later because we have
to save this country.�

--
Let's go Brandon!