Former President Donald Trump insulted a growing number of Republican rivals during a town hall appearance hosted by Sean Hannity – even appearing to mock a rival who votes less than 1% with a name suggesting he has disabilities.
Trump used the format, where Hannity announced at the summit that he was not interested in debating the nominee, to hit the GOP field, while commenting on President Joe Biden’s downfall and claiming he had been victimized. election interference.
Asked about facing a field that could reach nine, Trump said: ‘That’s a good thing, isn’t it’ – reflecting a school he could benefit from as the lowest voting candidates s ‘attack like they did in 2016. Both of its targets went after Trump on Jan. 6.
‘I don’t think it matters. I don’t know why people do it. They are at 1%. Some are zero,’ Trump told a friendly studio audience in Clive, Iowa.
Former President Donald Trump lambasted former New Jersey Governor Christ Christie for his polls and called former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson “Ada Hutchinson”
Then he lashed out at former New Jersey Governor Christ Christie, who has come out as a Trump critic and is expected to enter the race in days.
“Christie Christie, he was 6% in New Jersey. Which is to say, I love New Jersey. But 6% approval rating in New Jersey. What is the point ? And he votes zero. And others are,’ Trump said. (Christie is 1% in the RealClearPolitics average.
I call her Ada Hutchinson. I don’t call him Asa, I call him Ada Hutchinson, for some reason, but this guy, nobody knows who the hell he is.
Trump didn’t elaborate, but ADA stands for the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“You know it’s okay but I don’t understand what they’re doing. No, maybe there’s something wrong, but when you’re 1% or less you know what percentage of that is 1% with an arrow pointing left, there’s a guy who’s at zero with an arrow pointing left, that means he’s less than zero,” Trump joked.
At that time, Trump only alluded to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whom he previously referred to as “Ron DeSanctimonious,” and argued over a comment DeSantis made about changing a culture of loss. and declared that only he could win and serve two terms.
Trump’s attack on Hutchinson was notable in part because of his relatively weak performance in the polls.
Hutchinson, a former prosecutor, governor and impeachment official for Bill Clinton, was one of the few Republican candidates to directly attack Trump on January 6. He said Trump “misled us” and “undermined the fabric of our democracy.”
Christie, likewise, blamed Trump for the attack on the Capitol after previously advising him.
Trump attacked Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson and Ron DeSantis in ‘town hall’ style appearance with Sean Hannity on Fox News
“You know, I really go after whoever is second. And I think whoever is second goes down so much and so quickly that I don’t think he’s going to be second much longer. I think he’ll be third or fourth. He had a very bad day and he got very angry at the press. You have no right to get angry at the press. At the false news, he got angry angry,’ Trump said.
It was an allusion to how Trump regularly attacked the media as president and as a candidate.
At one point, Hannity mentioned criticism from fellow Republicans that Trump could “just smooth a hair, stop the name-calling a bit.” This prompted a series of boos from the crowd.
Trump’s attacks came after they began on Thursday after the expanding presidential field – mocking DeSantis for her shifting stance on how to pronounce her own name and insulting Christie about her weight.
Trump launched the slurs on his Truth Social platform following reports that Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, will soon be entering the race.
Former Vice President Mike Pence is also expected to announce his entry in a few days.
The moves set a crowded playing field where, once again, Trump’s rivals are willing to expend considerable energy to go head-to-head.
Trump trained most of his fire on DeSantis, as he did last night with a post that pointed to repeated changes in the way DeSantis pronounces his last name. He pronounced it “dee-Santis” during the video announcing his campaign, then pronounced it “da-Santis” during interviews on Fox News, keeping a pattern that goes years back.
Former President Donald Trump
“Have you heard that ‘Rob’ DeSanctimonious wants to change his name again,” Trump wrote, again calling his rival “Rob” for unexplained reasons.
“He demands people call him DeeeSantis, rather than DaSantis. I actually like ‘Da’ better, a nicer flow, so I’m glad he’s changing it. including the reporters, don’t pronounce it correctly. Therefore, he shouldn’t care, DeSanctimonious?
The last line referred to the label Trump usually uses on his rival, who trails him in the polls but is campaigning in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina this week.
Trump also reposted an attack on Christie, who endorsed Trump in 2016 and for a time led his presidential transition before becoming a critic of Trump at the end of his presidency.
It was a message from longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone. Trump, days before leaving office, commuted Stone’s 40-month prison sentence for lying to Congress.
Trump reposted an attack on former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie days before Christie entered the presidential race
Trump reposted an image of longtime adviser Roger Stone. The image appears to have been doctored to make Christie look taller, AFP reported by examining the original images
DeSantis, seen here with his wife Casey DeSantis, switched between saying his name “Dee-Santis” and “Da-Santis”
Stone posted an image that appears to have been edited showing an image of a tall Christie, who struggled with her weight. ‘@ChrisChristie needs to run. Not for the president. He just needs to run,’ Stone wrote. Trump reposted the missive without comment.
An AFP journalist who examined the original image stated that the background material of the original Reuters photo was not visible in the one posted by Stone, indicating that it was “tampered with”.
His attacks come after DeSantis, who is campaigning in Iowa on Thursday, called for ‘hands off the culture of loss that has infected the Republican Party’, referring to national underperformance and the Trump’s 2020 loss to Joe Biden.
In New Hampshire on Thursday, DeSantis said leadership was “not entertainment” and “not about building a brand,” in another possible ding at Trump.
The growing Republican field has critics of Trump worried that the former president’s base will hold as rivals tear each other apart.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, himself a possible candidate, predicts there will be no such replay and has urged candidates to drop out of the race if they underperform.
“In November or December of this year, if you’re not voting well, get your butt out of this race, let’s narrow it down to a few candidates,” he told Fox News on Thursday. “It’s more fair to the process,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump appeared at a Fox News town hall on Thursday night. He ignored revelations that he had been taped admitting he knew he had classified documents
Trump spent Thursday in Iowa, returning to the state for the first time since Ron DeSantis entered the 2024 race. He ended the day with an interview with Sean Hannity
