Trump will go head-to-head with Kaitlan Collins at CNN town hall after wall clash over border wall
Donald Trump Plans CNN City Hall to Get Republican Rivals ‘Too Scared’ to Network – Setting Up Confrontation With Former White House Foil Kaitlan Collins Who He Mocked For ‘Very Nice Question So Nicely Asked’
- Trump will appear in prime time at a CNN town hall on May 10
- Adviser says he’s moving out of Republican “comfort zone.”
- Trump ridiculed Collins when she asked why Mexico didn’t pay for the wall
Former President Donald Trump’s decision to take a seat at CNN’s battlefield town hall in New Hampshire for a prime time brings him face-to-face with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins — whom he ridiculed for knowing nothing about construction when they asked him about his borde wall.
Trump has long had a rocky relationship with CNN, which he derided as “fake news” as president, even as former executive Jeff Zucker helped give him his start on “the Apprentice.”
Now he is about to be questioned by Collins, who tried to knock his staff off her chair in the White House briefing room amid strained relations between Trump and the press at large.
Trump’s team characterizes it as a rash move to gain an edge over rivals who are “too scared” to be questioned on air — in a dig at rival Ron DeSantis.
Former President Donald Trump will appear at a CNN town hall in New Hampshire, with a dig of rivals ‘too scared’ to be questioned on air
The event will air on May 10 at 9 p.m. on St. Anselm’s College in Goffstown, New Hampshire — and comes as Trump has amassed huge leads against the Florida governor. But he still narrowly trails President Joe Biden in the polls, even though DeSantis has a slight lead over the 80-year-old Democrat.
“President Trump wants to be president for all Americans,” a Trump adviser told DailyMail.com.
“Going outside the traditional Republican “comfort zone” was a key to President Trump’s success in 2016. Some other candidates are too afraid to take this step in their quest to beat Joe Biden, and are afraid to do anything but Fox News,” the consultant continued, adding that CNN execs “had a compelling pitch.”
The comment seemed like a clear dig on DeSantis, who has sat for interviews with Fox News and has taken steps to isolate himself from local media and even mainstream voters on his book tour. DeSantis often surrounds himself with supporters at his press events.
Trump regularly clashed with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins when she was a White House correspondent for CNN
The town hall will be broadcast in prime time this month. It comes after cohost Don Lemon was booted from the morning show Collins cohosts
Trump has also been interviewed by host Sean Hannity and has fired primetime host Tucker Carlson. (Hannity also appears to have provided private advice to Trump in emails).
Collins has proven to be one of the network’s most notable interviewers, recently transitioning to daily morning television from New York (cohost Don Lemon was fired late last month).
During a memorable exchangeshe asked Trump why Mexico didn’t pay for the border wall, as he said during the campaign.
“You ran your campaign and promised supporters that Mexico is going to pay for the wall,” Collins asked him, prompting Trump to say, “Here we go again.”
“You said the wall will be concrete. You just said it could be steel. Right now our government is shut down because of a demand from your government that the US taxpayer pay for the wall. How can you say that you are not keeping that promise to your supporters?” she asked.
Trump sarcastically called it a “really nice question, so nicely put, even though I just answered it,” referring to a trade deal he claimed paid for the wall.
Then Trump rejected Collins’ concrete question. “I know you don’t like construction. You don’t understand something. We now have a great steel company that has been rebuilt in the United States. Steel is stronger than concrete. If I build this wall or fence or whatever the Democrats have to call it because I don’t like names, I like production, I like something that works,” he said.
In 2019, the Trump White House tried to get a pool reporter who takes Collins’ front row seat and forces her to relinquish her front row seat for a coronavirus briefing. Both refused. Then-President of the White House Correspondents Association, Jonathan Karl, said the WHCA would let the White House “pick and choose who sits where in the briefing room.”
Meanwhile, the network itself is getting some push back for hosting Trump, after boosting Trump’s 2016 campaign by broadcasting his rallies live.
The transparent attempt to boost their ratings feels a little odious to say the least. But all the more reason they need to get this right,” said Angelo Carusone, CEO of liberal watchdog Media Matters for America.