Trump Pushes GOP to Default on Debt if Dems Don’t ‘Cave’ – By Claire Hansen (US News) / May 10, 2023
The former president, who addressed the debt ceiling standoff, said he was inclined to pardon Jan. 6 rioters and insulted the writer he was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming.
Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that House Republicans should allow the U.S. to default on its debt – a likely catastrophic event that would plunge the global economy into chaos – if Democrats do not acquiesce to their demands on specific spending cuts.
He made the bold comments during a prime-time appearance on CNN that saw the former president feed off a friendly audience in a town hall audience to reiterate demonstrably false past claims and also to weigh in on the more current pressing political issues of the day.
Trump, for example, would not explicitly say if he wanted Ukraine to win the war against Russia and he refused to assert that he would unequivocally accept the results of the 2024 election. He also noted that he was “inclined” to pardon many of the people convicted of crimes related to the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Though the event was nominally aimed at undecided voters and Republican primary voters, it is the first time thus far in his campaign that he has had the reach of a platform that does not cater only to conservative voters. But Trump declined to use the opportunity to moderate his message, instead appearing only to court his base, doubling and tripling down on lies about the 2020 election and a litany of other controversial grievances.
