In cringey Fox News town hall, Trump portrays himself as selfless hero and unfair victim

Picture a lone boxer in the ring punching the air to bursts of applause from the crowd. Every now and then, the referee comes over to wipe the boxer's brow and say, "Good job, kid. Keep 'em coming." Then the crowd goes wild again.

That's what a Donald Trump town hall is like. It's real but also fake.

I watched the Republican presidential nominee's prerecorded town hall Wednesday in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with Fox News host and longtime Trump supporter Sean Hannity, so that you didn't have to.

Hannity and Trump rambled on for so long in the first hour of the town hall that they didn't have time for audience questions. It was just Trump and Hannity gabbing. (The second hour, supposedly with audience questions, is scheduled for broadcast Thursday night .)

The former president's speeches, town halls and debates are pretty much all the same. But I watch for a bit of insight into a Republican Party that I no longer recognize. Who are Republicans now ? Is the GOP just a man, and that man is Donald Trump?

Even as a conservative, I am still trying to figure out why people like Trump so much. Sure, he's not a Democrat, or a far-left one like Vice President Kamala Harris. But people aren't just voting against Harris. Many Republicans genuinely and enthusiastically like Trump.

And I might have finally figured out why.

Trump keeps it simple – and people like that

Many things are complicated in the United States these days. Few people understand the tax code, for example. Writing and enacting policies to address the nation's many daunting problems is left up to legislative experts. State, local and federal governments employ millions of people to manage enormous agencies that touch on nearly every aspect of Americans' lives. It seems that everything is both big and complicated.

But when Trump talks, he doesn't get into details. That could be because he doesn't understand those details (and sometimes neither do I).

Yet, Trump does seem to know and understand the things that bother so many people. In the town hall, Trump and Hannity discussed inflation, the economy, war, immigration and the border.

In a rambling discussion on immigration and chaos at the U.S. border with Mexico, Trump made one of his trademark wild and often false claims − this time saying that more terrorists had crossed the border into the United States in the past three years than in the last five decades.

To be sure, migrant encounters at the border hit a record high during Joe Biden's presidency, in large part because of the failed policies adopted by Biden and Harris.

Hamas murders 6 more hostages – including an American. Biden must do more to save them.

But Trump's statement wasn't really about debating policy. It was about tapping into Americans' fear, warranted or not. Voters aren't just worried about the mess at the border. They're also concerned about how it could endanger their safety in their own communities.

" We have to do the largest deportation in the history of our country," Trump said, to the audience's cheers.

He threw out other claims designed to play on voters' fears. Trump said if Harris wins, there will be so many illegal migrants that " you won't have Social Security , you won't have Medicare, you won't have anything."

When discussing inflation and the economy, he claimed that America would wind up in a 1929-like Depression if Harris doesn't extend his tax cuts, which expire at the end of 2025 .

He also slammed Harris repeatedly for saying in her 2019 presidential campaign that she would ban fracking in extracting oil and gas. (She now says she wouldn't ban it .)

"Pennsylvania can't take a chance. ... If she won, you're not going to have any fracking," Trump said . "You have no choice. You've got to vote for me ... even if you don't like me. ... You have to have fracking."

Ideally, we would have in-depth presidential debates about complicated policies. But Trump won't do that, and neither will Harris, because that's not voters want. Their debate on Tuesday will almost certainly skim the surface of issues.

I'm not saying voters are stupid, but most people aren't equipped or interested in long, complicated debates about policy. People are drawn to Trump's simple way of describing problems and presenting solutions because he reflects their frustrations and fears.

Trump makes himself out to be a hero

In Trump's world, he's both a victim and a hero depending on the moment. He's still complaining that Biden dropped out of the presidential race more than a month ago.

"It's very unfair in a lot of ways. I complain about it ," Trump said about not running against Biden anymore.

It seems like an almost nostalgic grievance, but Trump, after all, has never gotten over losing the 2020 election.

Trump is losing a winnable election. He has no one to blame but himself.

He also played victim and hero when he demanded kudos from the audience for even running for office again because he could do other things with his time.

"I have very nice places I could be!" Trump said. " This is not easy. I got shot at . I got hit."

It's similar to his penchant for making extraordinary promises that are well beyond his control to keep. On Wednesday, he promised zero world conflict if he's elected again.

"We went four years without any blow-ups," Trump said . "We were very tough at the borders. We were very tough with our statements."

It's possible that the United States enjoyed relative peace because of Trump's leadership, but timing likely had more to do with it.

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Trump is the GOP, the GOP is Trump

The Republican Party historically has not been built around the popularity and charisma of one person. Ronald Reagan might have been an exception, but he was an economic, foreign policy and social conservative who championed the party's long-shared values.

Trump is a populist who may be conservative on some issues and completely not a conservative on others.

Despite being a billionaire, and one who reminds voters of that fact regularly, Trump's political appeal is that he understands average Americans − and that only he can help them.

He told Hannity that the presidential campaign is "still about the forgotten man and the forgotten woman. People are being treated horribly in this country."

Many Americans are undoubtedly struggling. But it was interesting that he didn't say people were struggling. He said they were "being treated horribly," as if Biden had personally invaded their homes and stolen their belongings.

That fits with Trump's portrayal of himself as a hero, as a savior who will protect voters from migrants and Democrats.

He doesn't offer great ideas, which used to the foundation of conservatism. Instead, he offers a person − himself. That isn't good for Americans or the Republican Party.

I do have to give Trump credit for showing up at the town hall and for doing more interviews than Harris has .

We do learn a lot about Trump − and about ourselves − from these conversations.

The question is: Do we like what we see?

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track , and get it delivered to your inbox .

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