(The Epoch Times)—Former President Donald Trump continued his courtship of voters in Pennsylvania, one of a handful of states that could decide the 2024 presidential election, with a wide-ranging town hall discussion on Sept. 4.
Fox News host Sean Hannity reminded the audience at New Holland Arena that the Republican nominee’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, declined an invitation to debate Trump that night. That’s why the event instead became a Trump-only town hall.
So far, Harris has agreed to one debate with Trump, set for Sept. 10 with ABC News in Philadelphia. Trump also invited her to appear Sept. 25 on CBS News.
Banter between Hannity and Trump on Wednesday, sprinkled with video montages of Harris’s past statements, filled about 50 minutes that had been allotted—even before a single audience member had been able to ask a question.
Then, Trump suggested, “Let’s make two shows” from the footage; Hannity obliged, and the event continued for about 15 more minutes as Dave McCormick, a Republican candidate for Senate, and four attendees sought answers from the former president. Their questions focused on safety, immigration, and the economy. Trump repeated his past pledges to improve on all three of those fronts.
The network was slated to broadcast the prerecorded Trump–Hannity interview later on Sept. 4; the Trump–audience interactions will air during Hannity’s regular time slot on Sept. 5. Other media outlets, including The Epoch Times, were permitted to report on the exchanges only after the first segment was broadcast at 9 p.m. ET on Sept. 4.
ABC Debate: ‘I’m Gonna Let Her Talk’
After Hannity asked what the former president was doing to get ready for next week’s debate with Harris, Trump replied: “I think I’ve been practicing all my life for this stuff. It’ll be an interesting evening.”
The former president said debates are unpredictable, so a candidate needs to be nimble. Many before him have prepped extensively, only to fail miserably in the heat of debate. “Everybody has a plan until they get ‘punched in the face,’” Trump said, speaking figuratively.
“A lot depends on ABC. … I hope they’re going to be fair,” he said, adding that a contract bars the network from providing questions to either candidate in advance of the showdown.
The Trump and Harris camps had proposed different ground rules for the debate; they disagreed over whether the candidates should be seated or standing, and over whether microphones should be muted while the opposing candidate is speaking.
Trump’s strategy? “I’m gonna let her talk,” he said.
That is what he did on June 27 in Atlanta, where CNN hosted a debate between him and President Joe Biden. The incumbent was widely seen to have struggled during that face-off.
Biden withdrew from the race less than a month later and endorsed Harris as his preferred successor.
Fracking a Big Deal for Pennsylvania
Noting that many thousands of Pennsylvanians depend on fracking for their livelihoods, Trump told the audience, “You have no choice; you’ve gotta vote for me.”
Hannity played multiple video clips of Harris making past statements opposing fracking. Trump said he disbelieves her recent statement that she won’t ban the procedure that is used to help extract gas or oil from the ground. He said Democrats’ policies have directly hurt the industry even without an outright ban.
“You have to have fracking. … It’s a massive business for Pennsylvania, and you can’t take a chance” that Harris would eliminate it, Trump said.
Trump Trending Upward
Hannity noted the town hall came at a time when Trump was trending upward in some of the polls. Those include a Trafalgar Group poll showing Trump ahead of Harris in Pennsylvania by 2 percentage points.
The host said the latest numbers seem to suggest that Harris’s “long-lived honeymoon phase now finally, finally appears to be over.”
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In the RealClearPolitics average of opinion polls, Harris was holding a 1.9 percent national lead against Trump on Sept. 4. But a few very recent polls were detecting a shift in momentum.
In Rasmussen Reports’ Daily Presidential Tracking Poll on Sept. 4, Trump opened a six-point lead over Harris nationally. But in Rasmussen’s five-day average, he was only 2 percent ahead of her.
Many other polls still show Harris with an edge over Trump nationally, but still within the margin of error, which runs at 3 percent or more for most polls.
An online prediction and betting site, Polymarket.com, on Sept. 4 showed Trump with a 52-percent chance of winning the Nov. 5 election; Harris had a 47-percent chance.
Contrast With Harris–Walz Accessibility
Hannity noted that Harris has given no solo news conferences since she became the apparent Democratic nominee 45 days prior to the Fox town hall.
She and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, participated in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Aug. 29 but disclosed no new policy specifics. And, as of Sept. 4, no policy platform was yet listed on Harris’s website.
Hannity contrasted this with the dozens of news conferences and interviews Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), have given since Biden dropped out of the race.
After Trump passed the 16-minute, 30-second mark into the program, Hannity thanked him for going longer than Harris’s CNN interview; the audience laughed.
Heightened Security
Hannity and Trump have appeared together for many broadcasts since Trump first campaigned for president in 2016. But “never before have restrictions been so tight,” Hannity said.
In the wake of a gunman’s failed assassination attempt against Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump’s security team insisted on a smaller audience for the Fox town hall, Hannity said. Seating arrangements were also strictly controlled.
No attendance estimate was provided, but the arena, which holds 7,300 people, appeared to be about one-third full.
Hannity and Trump expressed sadness over the Georgia school shooting that left at least four people dead and nine wounded hours before the town hall.
In addition, Hannity also noted that FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned about an unprecedented spike in security threats.
When Hannity wondered aloud why so many problems with violence and threats persist, Trump replied, “It’s a sick and angry world for a lot of reasons,” expressing confidence that he will improve conditions if he wins reelection.
“It starts now, Trump!” one man in the audience said.
Reassuring ‘Hesitant’ Voters
A woman asked Trump what he had learned from his first term as president that could help reassure “those that are hesitant to vote for [him] now.”
Trump replied that he learned the importance of putting the right people into key positions in his administration.
“I put people in, that in some cases were not what I really wanted. … I know the good ones, the bad ones, the weak ones, the smart ones, the dumb ones,” he said, his last phrase prompting a chuckle from the audience. “A big key to running it is getting the right people. … I know now the people, and I know them better than anybody.”
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