“Our only retribution is success,” tells Donald Trump as he responds to Fox News’ Townhall moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum in Iowa while his rivals go head-to-head in the fifth presidential debate just days before the Iowa Caucus.
Trump said, “We’re going to make the country so successful again, I’m not going to have time for retribution.”
However, the former president shared that seeking retribution is “not so bad” after all.
“Well, first of all, a lot of people would say that that’s not so bad.”
“Look what they did,” referring to legal woes that the Democrats subjected him, the ongoing investigations, and what had happened during the 2020 election.
Trump’s hourlong town hall interview was his first live appearance on Fox News since 2022.
Unlike Fox’s town halls with Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, Trump bargained that his interview should be aired simultaneously with DeSantis and Haley’s CNN debate; both events are held in Des Moines, Iowa.
Moderators took seriously the challenge of keeping the town hall on track, compared to CNN’s town hall last May.
Baier and MacCallum allowed Trump to finish his sentences and avoided interrupting the GOP leader with fact-checks on every topic.
When prodded if he could say that political violence is never acceptable, Trump responded with, “Of course that’s right,” but said that President Joe Biden is “bedlam.”
Moderators also asked Trump about his legal battles, and he once again responded that these were all “witch hunts.”
An attendee asked the leading Republican nominee about his stance on abortion, to which he replied, “
“Nobody has done more in that regard than me,” he said.
He also pledged to draft a favorable policy that the people wanted.
“We are going to come up with something that people want and people like.”
Former President Trump seemed relaxed during the interview. Supporters met him with applause, and laughter erupted at some of his remarks, like his points on his former friend, rival Chris Christie, after he was caught on a hot mic about Haley “getting smoked.”
“I know her very well, and I happen to believe that Chris Christie is right”, Trump said. “One of the few things he’s been right about.”
He also told the moderators that he had already picked his running mate, but can’t tell them yet.
“Well, I can’t tell you that really. I mean, I know who it’s going to be.”
On the other side, DeSantis and Haley continued bickering at each other, hoping that Trump would appear on stage.
“I wish Donald Trump was up here on this stage. He is the one that I’m running against,” said Haley. “He’s the one that I wish would be here. He needs to be defending his record.”
“Donald Trump should be on this stage,” DeSantis later added.
The former president proved once more why he is the leading Republican nominee, as his town hall event gained an average of 4.4 million viewers, based on early data by Nielsen Media Research. While the CNN debate had only garnered around 2 million views.
