CEO of Pro-DeSantis PAC Takes on Trump Ahead of His CNN Town Hall

Regardless of what you may think of Donald Trump, there’s no denying that the former president sucks up much of the media oxygen when he makes news. Trump’s Wednesday night town hall with CNN is designed to do just that: dominate a news cycle.

But will it be effective? The CEO of one pro-Ron DeSantis PAC doesn’t think so. Chris Jankowski of Never Back Down issued an extensive statement on the town hall and what he expects from it. He kicked off the statement by stating that Trump and CNN are two peas in a pod.

“The Trump town hall on CNN is a true marriage of equals: A candidate who has lost his luster appearing on a network that’s lost its ratings,” Jankowski began his statement. “Both ignore a key fact: 2024 isn’t 2016. The old gimmicks and tired lines don’t work anymore.”

“We’d expect this kind of thing out of CNN — but it’s stunning to see Donald Trump transform into a made-for-CNN candidate, desperately seeking a national town hall, the most elite of elite forums,” he continued.

Jankowski recalled how Trump served an amazing purpose in 2016, awakening a Republican party that had dozed off and giving a voice to a segment of the electorate who felt like the GOP had left them behind.

“After all, in 2016, it was Donald Trump who electroshocked the Republican Party out of its elitism,” Jankowski remembered. “More forcefully and passionately than any contemporary politician up to that point, Donald Trump showed how the Republican party elites and their woke corporate allies were driving the GOP into extinction and selling out its voters.”

He continued by comparing Trump’s electrifying 2016 message to a man whose message and tactics appear to have changed.

“Trump barnstormed the country with that message, and it resonated in state after state. It won him an election, and it created a never-before-seen coalition of voters,” Jankowski said. “But along the way, something happened to Donald Trump. Eight years later, he’s marching arm-in-arm with liberal networks and parroting Joe Biden’s attack lines, all to cling to his eroding ‘frontrunner’ status.”

Jankowski then contrasted the 2024 edition of Trump with — who else? — the potential candidate he’s advocating for.

“Thankfully, just as in 2016, there’s an alternative to the Beltway’s preferred candidate,” he declared. “This candidate has protected parents’ rights, fought against corporate wokeness, and built an economic powerhouse of a state. He’s inspired millions, and he’s never backed down from mainstream media attacks or GOP elite handwringing.

“His name is Ron DeSantis—and no amount of CNN town halls can stop the movement behind him,” he added.

Jankowski concluded by suggesting that the CNN town hall is an outdated campaign tactic.

“CNN and Donald Trump should enjoy the town halls while they last,” he stated. “Years from now, they can remember them fondly, as a hallmark of a bygone era, an age when they and their elite opinions actually counted for something.”

Will Trump’s CNN town hall prove effective, or will it be a bust for the candidate and the network? I guess we’ll have to find out Wednesday night.