Trump to appear at CNN town hall in New Hampshire
May 2, 2023, 12:48 PM
FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Monday, March 13, 2023, in Davenport, Iowa. Trump is holding the first rally of his 2024 campaign in Waco, Texas, as he faces the prospect of a possible indictment. Trump is gathering with supporters Saturday in a city made famous by deadly resistance against law enforcement ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Waco massacre. (AP Photo/Ron Johnson, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Ron Johnson, File)
(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump will participate in a CNN presidential town hall next week in New Hampshire, the network announced Monday.
“CNN This Morning” anchor Kaitlan Collins will moderate the event at St. Anselm College, which will air at 8 p.m. ET on May 10 and will feature the former president taking questions from New Hampshire Republicans and undeclared voters who plan to vote in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
This will be Trump’s first appearance on CNN since the 2016 presidential campaign.
The CNN town hall comes as Trump has quickly emerged as the frontrunner in the Republican field for president in 2024. A handful of Republicans have entered the 2024 race so far, though Trump’s biggest potential rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is still weighing a possible campaign. Trump’s campaign and political allies have continued to ramp up their attacks on DeSantis as the former president has racked up congressional endorsements, including from Florida Republicans who routinely work with DeSantis.
But the former president is running to retake the White House at the same time that he’s been indicted in New York and faces additional legal peril in Washington and Georgia.
Trump pleaded not guilty last month to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records in Manhattan, in a case stemming from hush money payments made during the 2016 campaign to women claiming extramarital affairs with Trump, which he has denied.
The former president is also under scrutiny by special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading a pair of investigations — one into the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and the other on the handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence. And Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis plans to announce charges this summer from the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Trump has said that he is running for president regardless of the criminal charges he may face. He’s disparaged all of the investigations as politically motivated witch hunts.
The former president is also being sued by former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who alleges that Trump sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s and subsequently defamed her after she went public about the incident. Trump has also denied Carroll’s allegations.
Trump has refused to acknowledge that he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, continuing to falsely claim that the election was stolen from him, even as Trump’s rivals — and some of his allies — have urged the Republican Party to move on from 2020.
The town hall will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com and CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels,” or CNNgo where available. The town hall will also be available On Demand beginning Thursday, May 11 to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps, and Cable Operator Platforms.
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