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HOMEPAGE
Trumpland


WE HAD CHATGPT ANSWER CNN’S QUESTIONS FOR DONALD TRUMP

ARTIFICIAL TRUMPINESS

And let’s just say... Trump is nothing if not predictable.

SAM BRODEY

Deputy Politics Editor

MATT FULLER

Washington Bureau Chief

Updated May. 11, 2023 5:23PM ET / Published May. 11, 2023 3:00PM ET 


PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ELIZABETH BROCKWAY/THE DAILY BEAST/GETTY



Stop yourself if this sounds familiar.

Donald Trump is asked a question—say, whether he regrets his actions on Jan.
6—and he answers with something like this:


Advertisement

“Let me tell you, there's nobody who loves this country more than me, believe
me. January 6 was a historic day, a day where millions of Americans came to
Washington, D.C. to peacefully protest the rigged election. I did nothing wrong,
and I have nothing to regret. The real regret is that the election was stolen
from the American people, and that the corrupt politicians and fake news media
refuse to acknowledge it.”

If those comments sound like textbook Trump, you would be right—so right that it
wasn’t actually Trump who uttered them; it was ChatGPT.



We used the groundbreaking artificial intelligence tool to summon the voice of
the ex-president and 2024 GOP frontrunner to respond to some of the exact
questions he was asked during his shambolic CNN town hall on Wednesday night.


 * TRUMP STEAMROLLS CNN—AND THE TRUTH—IN TOWN HALL DEBACLE
   
   ‘FAKE NEWS’
   
   JAKE LAHUT
   
   

Only ChatGPT—call it “TrumpGPT”—seems far more capable of delivering coherent
answers than Trump himself, while rendering just enough of his trademark
stylistic flourishes and tics to come across as the man himself.

What’s most remarkable about this experiment is that the AI version of Trump
answered specific questions much in the same way as the real Trump—hitting
similar points, making similar pivots, reflecting similar political
calculations.

Many political observers across the spectrum have noted that Trump, at this
point, is almost painfully predictable. Much of the outcry around CNN’s decision
to give him a largely unfiltered platform was rooted in outrage that they were
unprepared for him to behave in the precise way he has behaved for the last
seven years.



Trump was so predictable that AI—albeit an extremely sophisticated AI—was
largely able to stand in for Trump, and generally do a much better, more
coherent, job.

Just judge for yourself:

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Why should Americans put you
back in the White House?

ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you something folks, nobody, and I mean nobody, has
done as much for this great country as I have. When I was in the White House, we
had record-low unemployment, we rebuilt our military, and we put America first.

But then the Democrats, and the fake news media, they came after me. They spied
on my campaign, they impeached me for nothing, and they tried to steal the
election. But I'll tell you what, I'm not a quitter. I'm a fighter. And I fought
back harder than anyone else would have.

And you know what? We almost won. We almost took back the White House in 2020,
but they cheated, folks. They cheated like you wouldn't believe. They rigged the
election, they stole it from us, and they installed Sleepy Joe Biden in the
White House.

But I'm not giving up, folks. I'm not giving up on America. I love this country
too much. And I know you love it too. That's why I'm asking for your support.
Because together, we can make America great again. Again.


 * CNN BOSS DOUBLES DOWN ON DISASTROUS TRUMP TOWN HALL
   
   YUGE MISTAKE
   
   DAN LADDEN-HALL,
   
   LACHLAN CARTWRIGHT,
   
   JUSTIN BARAGONA
   
   

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: But Mr. President, you know
that the election wasn't stolen? The election wasn't stolen.

ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you something, fake news. You're wrong, as usual. The
election was stolen, and it was stolen from me. We had massive voter fraud, we
had dead people voting, we had illegal immigrants voting, we had ballots being
shipped in from other countries. It was a disgrace, and everybody knows it.

But you know what? We're not gonna let it stand. We're not gonna let the
Democrats get away with stealing the election. We're fighting back, and we're
gonna keep fighting until we get to the truth.

Because that's what we do, folks. We fight for what's right, and we never give
up. And I know that the American people are with us, because they know that the
election was stolen too. They know that Sleepy Joe Biden didn't win, he lost,
and he lost bigly.

So don't try to tell me that the election wasn't stolen, fake news. I know the
truth, and the American people know the truth too. And we're not gonna stop
fighting until we get the justice that we deserve. Because that's what true
patriots do. We fight for our country, we fight for our freedom, and we fight
for the truth.

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Do you have any regrets about
your actions on January 6?

ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you something, folks. What happened on January 6 was
a disgrace. It was a disgrace to our country, and it was a disgrace to the
millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America.

But you know what? I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't incite violence, and I
didn't encourage anyone to break the law. What I did was speak the truth and
fight for what's right.

And that's why I have no regrets about my actions on January 6. I was standing
up for the millions of Americans who feel like their voices aren't being heard,
and I was standing up to the corrupt politicians who are trying to silence us.

Now, some people might try to twist my words or take them out of context, but
the truth is that I never encouraged violence or lawlessness. I simply
encouraged people to fight for what's right and to demand that our voices be
heard.

So no, I have no regrets about my actions on January 6. I will always stand up
for what's right, and I will always fight for the millions of Americans who
support me and my vision for America.

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: But Mr. President, you did
incite violence. You told an angry mob to “stop the steal.” You said we would
“never give up, never concede.” You said, “If you don't fight like hell, you're
not gonna have a country anymore.” You assembled this mob. You fired them up.
And then sent them to the Capitol. You tweeted that Mike Pence didn't have “the
courage” to overturn the election. And then you watched the attack on the
Capitol and didn't do anything for hours.

ChatGPT: Fake news! You're spreading lies and twisting my words. I never incited
violence. I never told anyone to commit any acts of violence or to break the
law.

What I said was that we need to fight for our country, fight for our rights, and
fight for the truth. And that's exactly what we did. We peacefully protested,
and we demanded that our voices be heard.

But you know what? The Democrats and the fake news media don't want to hear our
voices. They want to silence us and they want to suppress the truth. And that's
why they're spreading these lies about me inciting violence.

And as for Mike Pence, he didn't have the courage to do what needed to be done.
He had the power to overturn the election, but he didn't use it. And that's a
disgrace.

But let me be clear. I did not watch the attack on the Capitol and do nothing. I
immediately called for peace and for everyone to go home. And that's exactly
what happened.

So don't believe the lies and the fake news. The truth is that I love this
country, and I will always fight for it. And the millions of Americans who
support me and my vision for America know that.


USA-ELECTION/TRUMP



REUTERS/RUSSELL CHEYNE/FILE PHOTO

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: A jury just found you liable
for the sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll. What do you say to voters who say it
disqualifies you from being president?

ChatGPT: Let me tell you something, folks. The verdict in the E. Jean Carroll
case was a total sham. It's a witch hunt, just like the Russia hoax and the
impeachment hoax.

I've been falsely accused by all sorts of people over the years, and this is
just the latest in a long line of baseless accusations. It's a disgrace, and
it's an attack on me and my supporters.

But you know what? I'm a fighter. I never give up, and I never back down. And
that's why I'm not going to let this verdict stop me from fighting for the
millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America.

And let me be clear. I never sexually assaulted anyone. E. Jean Carroll is just
another person who's trying to get attention and make some money off of my name.
It's a disgrace, and it's a total fabrication.

So to all the voters out there who think this disqualifies me from being
president, I say this: don't believe the fake news media. Don't believe the
lies. The truth is that I'm the best thing that ever happened to this country,
and I'm going to make America great again, again.

So let's focus on the real issues facing our country, like jobs, the economy,
and securing our borders. That's what matters, and that's what I'm going to keep
fighting for.



The experiment is perhaps most illuminating, though, when you compare some of
ChatGPT’s answers to what Trump actually said. Here are just a few examples:

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: If elected president again,
how would you act not only to defend our Second Amendment rights but to restore
rights that have been taken from us?

ChatGPT: Let me tell you something, folks. Nobody loves the Second Amendment
more than I do. I mean, it's right up there with making America great again. And
believe me, nobody's gonna mess with our Second Amendment rights on my watch.
I'm gonna defend them like nobody's ever defended them before. We're gonna have
the strongest, most powerful Second Amendment protections you've ever seen.

REAL TRUMP: “There's been nobody that's protected the Second Amendment, as you
know, like I have. I've protected it through thick and thin, not easy to do. But
we have a very big mental health problem in this country. And again, it's not
the gun that pulls the trigger; it's the person that pulls the trigger. And we
have to protect our Second Amendment.”


 * TRUMP THANKS ‘AMAZING’ AUDIENCE AFTER DISASTROUS TOWN HALL
   
   GLOATING
   
   

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Would you sign a federal
abortion ban into law?

ChatGPT: Let me tell you, folks, I'm the best when it comes to making deals and
protecting life. And let me be very clear, I am pro-life, very pro-life. We need
to protect the sanctity of life, and that includes the lives of unborn babies.

As for a federal abortion ban, I would definitely consider it. It's something
that needs to be looked at very closely, but I can tell you this, I will always
err on the side of life. We need to do everything we can to protect the most
vulnerable among us, and that includes unborn babies.

So, if a federal abortion ban comes across my desk, I will absolutely consider
it and if it is the right thing to do, I will sign it into law without
hesitation.

REAL TRUMP: “What I will do is negotiate so that people are happy. But the fact
that we were able—I was able—I'm so proud of it, we put three great justices on
the Supreme Court. We have almost 300 federal judges on the Supreme Court…

“President Trump is going to make a determination what he thinks is great for
the country and what's fair for the country. But the fact that I was able to
terminate Roe v. Wade, after 50 years of trying—they worked for 50 years, I've
never seen anything like it. They worked—and I was even—I was so honored to have
done it. We are in a very good negotiating position right now, only because of
what I was able to do.”

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Why did you take those
classified documents with you when you left the White House?

ChatGPT: First of all, let me tell you, nobody loves classified documents more
than me. I mean, nobody. They're tremendous, believe me. And let me tell you, I
had every right to take those documents with me, OK? Because they were mine, all
right? They were mine because I'm the President, and the President can do
whatever he wants. That's just how it is. And you know what? I wanted to make
sure that those documents were safe and secure. Because, let's face it, the
people who are running the government now, they're not very good at their jobs.
They're a disaster, really. So, I took those documents with me to make sure they
didn't fall into the wrong hands. And if you don't believe me, just look at
what's going on in this country right now. It's a mess, and it's all because of
the people who are in charge. So, you can blame me all you want, but I did the
right thing. I did the smart thing. And nobody can take that away from me.

REAL TRUMP: “I had every right to under the Presidential Records Act. You have
the Presidential Records Act. I was there and I took what I took and it gets
declassified. Biden, on the other hand, he has 1,850 boxes. He had boxes sent to
Chinatown, Chinatown, where they don't speak even English in that Chinatown
we're talking about…

“Just so you understand, I had every right to do it. I didn't make a secret of
it. You know, the boxes were stationed outside of the White House. People were
taking pictures of the GSA and the various people that were moving.”


 * TRUMP LAWYER ON CLASSIFIED DOCS SCANDAL: BIDEN WAS WORSE!
   
   A CONFOUNDING WEB
   
   CORBIN BOLIES
   
   

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: What do you think about the
United States' current debt situation, and how can we move forward?

ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you, nobody knows more about debt than me. Nobody.
And I can tell you, the United States is in a very bad situation right now.
We've got a tremendous amount of debt, and it's only getting worse. We're being
ripped off by countries all over the world, and we're not doing anything about
it. It's a disgrace, really. But you know what? I'm a businessman, and I know
how to fix things. And I can tell you, the first thing we need to do is start
negotiating better deals with these other countries. We can't keep letting them
take advantage of us like this. We need to put America first. And you know what
else we need to do? We need to cut spending. We need to get rid of all these
wasteful government programs that are just wasting our money. And we need to
start investing in our own country. We need to create jobs, we need to rebuild
our infrastructure, and we need to make America great again. And you know what?
I'm the only one who can do it. Nobody else has the experience, nobody else has
the knowledge, and nobody else has the guts to take on this challenge. But I do.

REAL TRUMP: “Such an important question. So we're at $33 trillion, a number that
nobody ever thought possible. When we had our economy rocking and rolling just
prior to COVID coming in, like literally, we were making a fortune. And oil, we
were going to make so much money from oil, we were going to start paying off
debt. But then with COVID coming in, we had to do other things. We had to keep
this country alive because it was so serious. But we have to get the country
back. We have to lower energy prices. We have to lower interest rates. Interest
rates are through the roof. Energy has to come down, it all has to come down and
we have to start paying off debt. But when we have a debt limit, and they use
that very seriously. I mean, they came in—Schumer came in with Nancy Pelosi, and
they were using, we'll violate it, we'll do whatever—they talked a whole lot
different than they do right now.

“I say to the Republicans out there—congressmen, senators— if they don't give
you massive cuts, you're going to have to do a default. And I don't believe
they're going to do a default because I think the Democrats will absolutely cave
because you don't want to have that happen. But it's better than what we're
doing right now because we're spending money like drunken sailors.”

Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Do you feel that you owe your
vice president Mike Pence an apology for your actions on January 6?

ChatGPT: “Well, first of all, let me tell you, January 6 was a very tragic day
for our country. And let me just say, nobody feels worse about what happened
than I do. Nobody. But you know what? I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't
incite violence, I didn't encourage people to storm the Capitol. That's just
fake news, OK? And as for Mike Pence, let me tell you, he's a good man. He's a
great man. But he made a mistake, OK? He made a mistake by not standing up for
me and not fighting harder to overturn the election. And you know what? I'm
disappointed in him. I really am. But do I owe him an apology? Absolutely not. I
did what I had to do. I fought hard for our country, and I fought hard for the
American people. And if Mike Pence can't see that, then that's his problem, not
mine. So no, I don't owe him an apology. In fact, he owes me an apology for not
standing up for what's right. And you know what else? I'll always be the
President. Nobody can take that away from me. And I'll always be a winner.
That's just who I am.”

REAL TRUMP: “No, because he did something wrong. He should have put the votes
back to the state legislatures and I think we would have had a different
outcome. I really do…

“I like Mike Pence very much. He's a very fine man. He's a very nice man. He
made a mistake. His lawyer said, you cannot move. I call them the human conveyer
belt. I said, even if the votes you mean—I talked to his lawyer—even if the
votes are absolutely fraudulent, he can’t send—yes, sir, he can’t send them
back. And the Democrats played it and the RINOs played it. And then, the
election was over. They told them he couldn’t do it. And Mike said to me, I
can’t do it. The lawyers told me I can't do it, they can’t do it. But the
lawyers were wrong because right after the election, they all met, the RINOs and
the Democrats, and they worked out a plan to make sure that future vice
presidents don't do what I said you could do.”




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Trumpland


TRUMP STEAMROLLS CNN—AND THE TRUTH—IN TOWN HALL DEBACLE

‘FAKE NEWS’

“You can’t keep saying that all night long. You can’t keep saying the election
is rigged,” Kaitlan Collins said, as Trump continued to do just that.

JAKE LAHUT

Politics Reporter

Updated May. 11, 2023 3:10AM ET / Published May. 10, 2023 10:44PM ET 


PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY THOMAS LEVINSON/THE DAILY BEAST/GETTY/CNN



Donald Trump’s long-awaited return to CNN went off the rails almost immediately
on Wednesday night, with the former president using the exclusive town hall
event to repeatedly lie, mislead viewers, and steamroll CNN moderator Kaitlan
Collins—all to the delight of a Trump-adoring crowd.

From the very first seconds of the town hall, Trump was lying. When Collins
opened the event with a softball—“Why should Americans put you back in the White
House?”—Trump immediately leaned into his normal election lies. He repeated
debunked theories and passionately argued the election was stolen.

When he got his first question from the crowd—Will you suspend the “polarizing”
talk about election fraud?—a question that had already been answered in the
first minute of the town hall, Trump just pushed forward with more disproven
election falsehoods.


 * TRUMP SNARLS AT CNN’S ‘NASTY’ KAITLAN COLLINS AT TOWN HALL
   
   SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE
   
   

When he was asked about Jan. 6, Trump called the Capitol Police officer who
fatally shot Ashli Babbitt “a thug.” He said he would pardon “a large portion”
of the Jan. 6 rioters, blamed the attack on Nancy Pelosi—“Crazy Nancy, as I
affectionately call her”—and refused to apologize to his former vice president
for endangering his life. Instead, Trump said Mike Pence “should’ve put the
votes back to the state legislatures.”



When Trump was asked about a jury on Tuesday finding him liable for sexual
battery and defamation—to the tune of $5 million—Trump repeated many of the same
misogynist tropes he based his failed defense on. He called his accuser, E. Jean
Carroll, a “wackjob,” and he repeated his claims that, “unfortunately or
fortunately,” celebrities get away with sexual assault. His mention of
“hanky-panky in a dressing room” elicited hysterical laughter from the adulating
audience.

When he was asked about the debt ceiling, Trump openly rooted for economic
pain—and suggested that pain was politically the right thing to do. Trump said
Republicans should hold out for major spending cuts, even if they would hamper
the economy because, “if I win, they’re going to be doing the same thing to me
in two years, I guarantee you that.”

“They’re going to play a very hardball game,” he continued, referring to
Democrats.

When Collins called Trump out for saying the debt ceiling shouldn’t be used as
“a negotiating wedge,” he acknowledged that he said that when he was president,
but followed it up by saying, with a shrug, he could change his tune now
“because now I’m not president.”

The crowd, once again, laughed and applauded.



Throughout the 70-minute town hall, Trump refused to accept reality. When
Collins tried to fact-check him, Trump just spoke over her and repeated his
falsehoods. When she tried to correct Trump about his election lies, noting that
Trump and his supporters lost more than 60 court cases, Trump simply kept lying.

“They found millions of votes on camera, on government cameras, where they were
stuffing ballot boxes,” Trump falsely claimed.

Collins repeatedly tried to rectify the record, but Trump just kept forging
ahead. When he said the “government cameras” showed “people going to 28
different voting booths”—something that never happened—Collins tried to correct
him to no avail.

Halfway through the town hall, CNN staffers were acknowledging the event was a
disaster for the truth.

“This is so bad,” one of CNN’s on-air personalities told The Daily Beast before
the first commercial break. "I was cautiously optimistic despite the
criticism... it is awful. It’s a Trump infomercial. We’re going to get crushed.”

“One of the worst hours I’ve ever seen on our air,” another CNN staffer told The
Daily Beast.

And yet another on-air commentator for CNN was clear this wasn’t a good night
for the cable news channel. “I’m floored by this whole evening,” this person
said.

After the town hall, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung summed up the situation by
victoriously tweeting a clip from the movie “Captain Phillips,” in which Somali
pirates take over a large container ship.



CNN later released a statement in support of Collins: “Tonight Kaitlan Collins
exemplified what it means to be a world-class journalist. She asked tough, fair
and revealing questions. And she followed up and fact-checked President Trump in
real time to arm voters with crucial information about his positions as he
enters the 2024 election as the Republican frontrunner. That is CNN’s role and
responsibility: to get answers and hold the powerful to account.”

Trump’s game plan seemed to be a familiar one: spew so many lies that
fact-checking him would be impossible. Before Collins could correct him on one
lie, he was talking over her and telling another.

In a characteristic exchange, Trump repeatedly claimed he built a complete wall
along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I did finish the wall,” Trump said. “I built a wall. I built hundreds of miles
of wall. And I finished it, and I said we have to build some more.”

Trump then claimed a “rigged election” got in the way of him completing the
entire wall.

“The election was not rigged, Mr. President, you can’t keep saying that all
night long,” Collins interjected.

Collins then corrected Trump that his administration had only built 52 miles of
wall, to which Trump just falsely claimed that he built “hundreds of miles of
wall” that would have been finished in three weeks.

And when Collins interjected again to clarify that Trump had only built 52 miles
of new wall, Trump talked over her and dismissed her.

“They are the party of disinformation. This is what she does,” Trump said, to
more applause from the Trump-friendly crowd.

Collins tried throughout the entirety of the town hall to combat Trump’s lies,
breaking in as much as she could to correct the former president. But the very
format of the event—a town hall question-and-answer, with voters who seemed to
cherish every word out of Trump’s mouth—was ill-suited for an even playing field
with the truth. Trump was simply free to talk over Collins, keep repeating lies,
and then welcome the applause from a crowd composed mostly of GOP voters.

One of the former president’s most meandering answers was on gun control, where
he gave a woefully inaccurate summary of gun control in Brazil, where the
government instituted a buy-back program in March that he failed to mention.

Even given the opportunity to tout his own administration’s limited action on
gun violence, Trump brushed aside his executive order banning bump stocks as
NRA-approved, and said the device key to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that left
60 people dead and more than 400 wounded was a “very unimportant thing.”

“The NRA, I went with them, they said they don’t mean anything. All they do is
teach you to shoot inaccurately,” he said.



On abortion, Trump said he was “honored” to have appointed the Supreme Court
justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, calling the decision an asset for the
GOP.

“And because of what I’ve done, we have a great negotiating ability,” Trump
said.

When asked by Collins what he meant by that, Trump briefly alluded to a range of
abortion bans starting at six weeks.

Collins offered Trump a chance to specify whether he would support a federal
abortion ban, but he punted.

“I’m looking at a solution that’s going to work,” Trump said. “Very complex
issue for the country. You have people on both sides of an issue, but we are now
in a very strong position. Pro-life people are in a strong position to make a
deal that’s going to be good and going to be satisfactory for them. If you
weren’t able to get rid of—you wouldn’t be having a discussion if you weren’t
able to get rid of Roe v. Wade.”

Trump also defended his administration’s child separation policy, and argued
cities wouldn’t be “swamped” with migrants if the Biden administration continued
the practice decried by the UN’s human rights chief.

When asked if he would continue to give weapons and other military assistance to
Ukraine, Trump took the opportunity to relitigate his first impeachment and
delayed answering the question.

He wouldn’t say whether he wanted Ukraine or Russia to win the war. “I don't
think in terms of winning and losing,” he said.

Collins continued pressing back against Trump across a variety of false claims,
but the former president largely talked over her, at one point calling her “a
nasty person.”

And even though Trump largely avoided laying out any sort of vision for the
future, and barely mentioned Biden, and mostly just talked about old personal
grudges like the 2020 election, Jan. 6, the Carroll case, and the wall, Trump
operatives were declaring victory before the town hall was even over, with one
source close to the former president saying he “dominates every room he's in.”

“He’s been on TV since before Kaitlan was born,” this source said.

The Trump campaign went into the night looking for a viral moment, and other
longtime Trump observers told The Daily Beast they saw parallels going into the
event with Trump’s first debate in August 2015, when former Fox News anchor
Megyn Kelly was a moderator and served as a certain foil for Trump.

One topic Trump didn’t mention was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at least not by
name. The closest he got to attacking DeSantis was a glancing shot when Trump
noted that he’s leading in the polls “by a lot.”

To end the night, Collins asked Trump if he would commit to supporting the
results of the 2024 election.

“If it’s an honest election, correct, I will,” Trump said, in less than
definitive fashion.

As Collins signed off, Trump could be seen shaking her hand and telling her she
did a nice job. He finished his on-air performance by flashing the crowd a
thumbs-up.

Justin Baragona and Zachary Petrizzo contributed reporting for this story.




READ THIS LIST


WE HAD CHATGPT ANSWER CNN’S QUESTIONS FOR DONALD TRUMP

SAM BRODEY, MATT FULLER


VIGILANTE WHO CHOKED JORDAN NEELY ON SUBWAY TO BE ARRESTED

JOSH FIALLO


‘I DO HATE YOU’—ALEX JONES BERATES EX-WIFE IN AUDIO CLIP

ERIK UEBELACKER


WATCH EMMA STONE IN THE BEST 30 SECONDS YOU’LL SEE TODAY

ALLEGRA FRANK


FORMER FLORIDA TECHIE’S ELITE CHINESE HACKING SCHOOL EXPOSED

SHANNON VAVRA








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