Donald Trump’s CNN town hall Wednesday night started off with a question about election fraud claims related to the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.
“We have to have honest elections in our country,” he said in response to a voter question about whether he would retire “polarizing” talk of election fraud. People in the audience clapped.
Later on, Trump said, “the election was rigged,” prompting moderator Kaitlin Collins to refute him. This was Trump’s first appearance on CNN since 2016.
Although no evidence has been found of election fraud, Trump has continued to make claims that the election was “stolen” for years. Trump is now running to be the Republican candidate in 2024, and the town hall was the latest event for his campaign.
“If it’s straight up, we’ll win,” he said of the upcoming election.
Trumps’ election fraud claims played a role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Another voter asked Trump if he planned to pardon people arrested for the violent breach of the Capitol.
“I would say it would be a large portion of them,” said Trump, who said he would pardon them early on if he is elected for a second term.
However, he said that he might not pardon all and did not directly answer whether he would pardon Proud Boys found guilty of seditious conspiracy for their participation in the breach.
Forbes reported in March that the share of Republicans who believe President Joe Biden didn’t legitimately win the 2020 election has dropped over the past two years. Yet, many still held on to the narrative that the election had been stolen.
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