A political action committee supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says Donald Trump’s town hall on CNN amounted to an “hour of nonsense” and it’s time for Republicans to move on from the 76-year-old former president.
Never Back Down PAC, which is backing Mr. DeSantis before the governor enters the GOP presidential primary, criticized Mr. Trump after he appeared in New Hampshire and claimed success on his border wall with Mexico, criticized sex-abuse accuser E. Jean Carroll, did not say if he would support Ukraine in its war against Russia and was evasive about whether he’d support a federal abortion ban.
“On the same day Ron DeSantis was assailing Joe Biden’s border crisis, Donald Trump was on CNN attacking DeSantis and lying about finishing the border wall. The CNN town hall was, as expected, over an hour of nonsense that proved Trump is stuck in the past,” said Never Back Down spokeswoman Erin Perrine. “After 76 years, Trump still doesn’t know where he stands on important conservative issues like supporting life and the Second Amendment. How does that make America great again?”
A supportive audience in New Hampshire seemed to enjoy Mr. Trump’s answers to host Kaitlan Collins’ questions, while others said CNN erred in hosting the former president.
Critics pointed to his unsubstantiated claims about the 2020 election, his role in the runup to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack and a civil verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming Ms. Carroll, a former magazine writer.
“This is a fake story — a made-up story,” Mr. Trump said of Ms. Carroll’s accusations. “She’s a whack job.”
It is unclear if the town hall will sway anyone’s opinion about Mr. Trump, who is a well-known and polarizing entity at this point.
The Trump campaign said the town hall was a smashing success.
“President Trump will save the economy, bring down inflation, secure the border, crush the Deep State and prevent World War 3,” his campaign said in a written statement. “President Trump is the only one who can stop the forces from destroying our country — anyone else will be ripped to shreds.”
Yet some GOP rivals tried to get leverage.
Beyond the DeSantis PAC, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — a GOP presidential contender — reminded viewers of Mr. Trump’s approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Trump reminded everyone tonight of his support of Russia and his willingness to sell out Ukraine,” Mr. Hutchinson tweeted. “A weak position that will not win the war.”
