Donald Trump is so scared of questions these days that he doesn't just cancel interviews, he will stand and sway to music for 39 minutes rather than answer the inquiries of his rally attendees. Still, in an odd choice for a campaign canceling interviews faster than they can book them, Trump's team did allow him to sit for an all-female town hall. His staff did everything they could to make it easy on the increasingly addled old man. They scheduled it on Fox News, rather than a legitimate news network. It was pre-taped and edited, unlike the unedited interview Fox News did with Vice President Kamala Harris. And the host, Harris Faulkner, has legitimately impressive skills at cutting him off and redirecting his attention without triggering a tantrum, suggesting she would be a crackerjack at handling the worst dementia patients at a care facility.
Right away, the town hall felt less like Trump trying to appeal to female voters, and more like his campaign trying to reassure the notoriously fragile candidate that women don't hate him. It was immediately obvious that audience members were chosen for their loyalty to Trump. One participant even joked that it's a "room full of women the current administration would consider domestic terrorists," which is to say they aren't just Republicans, but ready to volunteer for the next Jan. 6. This line drew gushing applause, because on Fox News, "feminism" is reminding viewers that women can be fascists, too.
