Add MSNBC’s Chris Hayes to the pile of people who believe Wednesday’s Donald Trump town hall CNN aired was a disastrous mistake.
On Thursday’s episode of “All-In,” Hayes explained in great detail why he thinks it was such a bad idea for CNN to give such a prominent platform to the disgraced former president. And while his critiques often echo what has been said by myriad other critics of the phenomenon, Hayes’ main concern was the system of American government itself and journalism’s role in it.
Hayes declared at one point, “‘I should govern’ is not an idea that can be debated.” Watch the clip above now.
The Trump town hall moderated by former Tucker Carlson staffer-CNN star Kaitlan Collins featured an hour and a change in which Trump told dozens of lies, repeatedly trying to promote lies about the 2020 election, making racist statements, vilified the woman who had successfully sued him for sexual harassment and defamation the day before, and even insulted Collins himself. With the exception of when it came to 2020, Trump got a pretty slack push from Collins.
CNN and stars from various networks have deployed the defense that Trump’s race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination is worth covering because of how popular he is, and that the town hall somehow gave Americans the information they wanted. They didn’t already have it.
Hayes categorically denied those positions.
“The main reason why last night was bad is the simple, undeniable truth that Donald Trump tried to end American democracy. He tried to destroy the fundamental arrogance of this country that we all celebrate, right? Since the Revolution. That the government is chosen by the people, that we decide who rules us. That we are not ruled by a king or a strongman, Hayes said, as footage of Trump’s speech which instigated the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
“This is the soul of the American experiment. Not only did he try to sniff it out, he failed to do so, but wants to finish the job,” Hayes explained. “I cannot stress this enough: you didn’t need To find out watch Town Hall last night.
Hayes, as he has often done recently, described Trump’s new presidential effort as a “campaign to finish what he started.”
“He will do it any way necessary. Let no one be under any illusion about that. Donald Trump wants to end American elections,” Hayes argued, adding that Trump’s goal is that he and his followers “will destroy this country.” But must rule, no matter how big they are.
“He’s not really running for a second term, he’s running forever,” Hayes said.
He then turned his attention to the town hall audience, which consisted almost entirely of Trump supporters. “As we saw on display in the audience last night, represented that millions of our fellow citizens are in the grip of a kind of psychosis and envy for, for lack of a better description, that vision. That vision, which this minority of Americans should rule everyone through the means of Donald Trump, that vision is a potential threat to the union and American democracy.
“Journalists who are protected by those constitutional principles that can only exist in a liberal democracy, a constitutional republic with the First Amendment, have a responsibility to preserve those fundamental freedoms. Donald Trump is directly and definitely his enemy. Are.
Hayes then got to his main point: “The problem, of course, with giving that guy a platform, and crawling to his side to an audience of over an hour of national airtime to make that pitch, is that attitude, ‘I should govern’, is not an idea that can be debated.
Hayes continued that Trump’s political activity — which is an effort “to govern as a dictator,” he argues — “is not a platform to debate, or to refute, or to fact-check. It is a It is a platform that must be defeated.”