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BREAKING Trump Dismisses Primary Rivals And Insists His Handling Of Classified Documents Was “100%” Legal In Fox Town Hall Siladitya Ray Forbes Staff Covering breaking news and tech policy stories at Forbes. Following Jun 2, 2023, 02:58am EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Updated Jun 2, 2023, 03:31am EDT Share to
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Donald Trump continued to lash out at his primary opponents and once again insisted he did not break any laws in his handling of classified government documents, in a
Fox News town hall hosted by
Sean Hannity on Thursday. Former President Donald Trump greets supporters at a Team Trump volunteer leadership training event ... [+] held at the Grimes Community Complex in Grimes, Iowa. Getty Images Key Facts When presented with the growing list of GOP primary challengers, the former president was dismissive of their chances, claiming that many of them are polling at 1% and “some are at zero,” so he doesn’t think the size of the field really matters. The mention of former vice president Mike Pence’s name was greeted with boos from the audience, while Trump insisted on referring to Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson as “Ada Hutchinson” and said, “nobody knows who the hell he is.” Not mentioning
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by name, Trump said he’s really gone after “the one who’s second,” and claimed this has caused DeSantis to slide down in the polls. Trump also brought up DeSantis’ dust-up with an Associated Press reporter earlier on Thursday, saying “you’re not allowed to get angry at the press.” When asked about reports of the DOJ’s being in possession of an audio recording where he purportedly admits to being in possession of classified
MILITARY documents, Trump said he doesn’t know “anything about it,” but insisted everything he did was right. Trump then insisted he “100%” abided by the Presidential Records Act and reiterated that he has the “right to declassify as president.” Surprising Fact Hannity was met with a chorus of boos from the audience when he asked Trump why he chooses to call people names and said the 2024 race may be decided by people in the “middle” who may want Trump to tone down his rhetoric. Hannity then told the crowd “leave me alone,” as it was not his question but something that people were asking him. Big Number 33.3 points. That is the size of Trump’s leave in the GOP primary race over his second-placed rival DeSantis according to an aggregate of national polls published by FiveThirtyEight. According to the polls, 54.2% support Trump, followed by DeSantis at 20.9% and Pence at 5.4%. While the former president’s lead is significant, his chief rival DeSantis appears in no danger of dropping down to “third or fourth” like Trump claimed in the townhall. Further Reading DOJ Has Recording Of Trump Admitting He Kept Classified Docs, Report Says (Forbes) Is It Ron ‘Dee-Santis’ Or ‘Deh-Santis’? Trump Sees A Conspiracy Either Way (Forbes) Follow me on Twitter . Send me a secure tip . Siladitya Ray Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions