Fox News host Sean Hannity hosted a town hall on Thursday night in Iowa where he was booed by Donald Trump supporters after asking the former president if he would tone down his insults to appeal to more moderate voters.
“People ask me, ‘Why does he [Trump] have to fight so hard? Why doesn’t he pick his fights a little more? Why does he have to call people names?’ And the only reason I think this is an important question is because…it’s going to come down to those people that may be in the middle a little more. The argument that they made to me is if he could just tone it down a hair…it might help you with swing voters that are needed for you to get over the finish line,” Hannity said while speaking with the former president.
The crowd then erupted with “boos” in the middle of Hannity’s question, prompting the Fox News host to say, “Hang on! I said it’s their question. Leave me alone.”
This marks Trump’s second town hall event ahead of the 2024 presidential election, following his first with CNN. The former president was able to speak relatively freely with Hannity, unlike his controversial town hall with CNN‘s Kaitlan Collins last month, in which the moderator consistently pushed back on Trump’s false and misleading claims throughout the night.
Trump spent Thursday night’s town hall touting his ability to swiftly “fix” what Hannity described as the “bread and butter issues” of America, blaming the Biden administration for the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, energy prices and “law and order” issues. According to the former president, he would be able to address the issues within “six months” in office.
“I hear DeSanctis say, ‘Oh, well I get eight years…he gets four,’” Trump told Hannity, referring to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is running against him in the 2024 GOP primary. “You don’t need four, and you don’t need eight. You need six months.”
Taking to his social media platform Truth Social on Friday, the former president also touted his lead in the polls over DeSantis saying, “Ron DeSanctimonious poll numbers are dropping like a rock. Looks like he’s in 3rd Place in the Great State of South Carolina, heading for 4th. People don’t like the fact that he’s got no personality! I’m up by 41 points there. Thank you!”
Meanwhile, Trump is facing criticism after insulting his former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday on Truth Social.
“Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews,” the former president wrote, alluding to the insult known as milquetoast. “I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up. While 25 is great, it’s not 34. She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!”
Trump’s criticism of McEnany was in response to comments she made on Fox News, where she serves as a co-host and political commentator. On Tuesday, McEnany appeared on Jesse Watters Primetime and spoke about current poll numbers between Trump and DeSantis saying that the Florida governor was “closing the gap” in Iowa.
Newsweek was unable to verify which poll McEnany was discussing. However, one survey conducted by Emerson College Polling last week found the former president leading DeSantis by 42 percentage points in Iowa.
DeSantis then came to McEnany’s defense on Friday calling Trump’s attack “really, really bad.”
“Donald Trump, even his greatest supporters have acknowledged, had a tough time picking good people. He had a lot of terrible personnel decisions, people like Jerome Adams, his Surgeon General…so we know there was a tough record, but Kayleigh was one of the greatest selections. She did a fantastic job,” DeSantis said while appearing on the NH Journal podcast.
Newsweek has reached out to a political analyst via text message for comment.
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