Former President Donald Trump’s comments during a Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity sparked controversy, with media outlets, including CNN, presenting misleading headlines.
Trump’s remark about being a dictator “only on ‘day one'” was taken out of context, leading to a discussion on CNN.
Despite a guest pointing out the selective editing of the clip, the hosts insisted it accurately represented Trump’s words. (Trending: Hunter Biden Indicted on 9 New Criminal Charges)
CNN guest Lee Carter called out the network for deceptively portraying comments made during the Fox News town hall, noting it's being portrayed "out of context." pic.twitter.com/vwFhGdNIoR
— AnalyzingAmerica (@AnalyzAmerica) December 10, 2023
“They want to call you a dictator. … I want to be very, very clear on this,” began Hannity.
“To be clear, do you in any way have any plans whatsoever, if re-elected president, to abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people –”
“You mean like they’re using right now,” Trump interrupted.
“In the history of our country, what’s happened to us, again, has never happened before, over nonsense, over nothing, made-up charges,” said the former president.
Looking for clarification, Hannity said, “Under no circumstances — you are promising America tonight — you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?”
“Except for day one,” Trump said.
“Meaning?” replied Hannity.
“I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill,” the former president said.
“That’s not retribution,” Hannity said.
“I love this guy,” declared Trump.
“He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said, ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’”
“That sounds to me that you’re going back to the policies when you were president,” suggested Hannity.
“That’s exactly right,” confirmed Trump.
Host Poppy Harlow warned her viewers that, “Donald Trump, I think, made clear on his remarks about ‘I’d only be a dictator on day one’ exactly what President Biden is talking about in terms of preserving democracy.”
Republican strategist Lee Carter, offered the CNN hosts and viewers the context of Trump’s quote.
“Well, to be fair, that soundbite, out of context, is terrifying, but when you hear what he was trying to say overall, he was kind of, sort of, like, as some communicators do, leaning into criticism and say, ‘I’ll only be a dictator in as much as I’m going to close the borders and I’m going to start drilling for oil again, after that, no, I promise you I’m not going to do anything,’” said Carter.
“Are you saying people shouldn’t believe him?” Harlow asked.
“Look at the policies he’s laid out.”
“Well, what I’m saying is I don’t think that what he meant to say was, ‘I am really going to be a dictator in that moment,’” Carter said. “That’s not what he was saying. He was saying, ‘I’m going to be a dictator on day one under these two terms.’
“And I think the American people, and certainly his supporters, aren’t going to hear him as saying, ‘I was going to be a dictator.’ This is very much like in 2016, everybody said he’s an outsider, he’s got no experience, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m an outsider with no experience. I’m gonna blow things up in D.C.’ He’s got that kind of a way about him –“
“And he did,” Harlow interrupted.
“He did,” Carter acknowledged.
Adding, “And that’s what people like about him, by the way.”
The discussion on CNN underscored the polarized media landscape and the challenges in interpreting political statements.
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