Donald Trump Opens CNN Town Hall by Repeating False Claim That 2020 Election Was ‘Rigged’

variety.com:

J. Kim Murphy Donald Trump opened his town hall on CNN Wednesday night by reiterating his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged.” The former president sat down Wednesday evening for a conversation moderated by Kaitlan Collins broadcast live from New Hampshire, fielding questions from Republicans and undeclared voters in the state.

At the start of the evening, Collins and Trump sparred over false conspiracy theories about the results of the 2020 election and the degree of the former president’s involvement with the attack on the U.S.

Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “When you look at that result and when you look at what happened during that election — and unless you’re a very stupid person you see what happened,” Trump told the crowd. “That was a rigged election.” Trump’s comments were repeatedly punctuated by Collins’ interjections, fact-checking the former president’s claims about the election.

Asked by an audience member if he would suspend “polarizing talk of election fraud” during his campaign, Trump answered: “Yeah, unless I see election fraud.” Later in the broadcast, Trump called Collins a “nasty person” when the conversation turned to the matter of him possessing classified documents at his residence in Mar-a-Lago following his presidency. “Why did you hold onto those documents when you knew the federal government was seeking them and had given you a subpoena to return them?” Collins asked. “Are you ready?