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442508 |
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Date: October 15, 2024 at 16:11:27
From: ao, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Trump Breaks Down Onstage |
URL: “Let’s just listen to music. Who the hell wants to hear questions?” |
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Is Donald Trump well enough to serve as president?
The question is not temperamental or philosophical fitness—he made clear
long ago that the answer to both is no—but something more fundamental.
The election is in three weeks, and Pennsylvania is a must-win state for both
Trump and Kamala Harris, but during a rally last night in Montgomery
County, northwest of Philadelphia, Trump got bored with the event, billed as
a “town hall,” and just played music for almost 40 minutes, scowling,
smirking, and swaying onstage. Trump is no stranger to surreal moments,
yet this was one of the oddest of his political career.
“You’re the one who fights for them,” gushed Kristi Noem, the South Dakota
governor and animal-abuse enthusiast, who was supposed to be moderating
the event. But it soon became evident that Trump wasn’t in a fighting mode.
The event began normally enough, at least by Trump standards, but, after
two interruptions for apparent medical emergencies in the audience, Trump
lost interest. “Let’s just listen to music. Who the hell wants to hear
questions?” he said.
He eventually pivoted for good to a playlist of his favorite songs:
“Hallelujah,” “Rich Men North of Richmond,” “Nothing Compares 2 U,”
Elvis’s rendition of “Dixie.” At one point, he asked his staff to play Pavarotti
and display the immigration chart that he was about to discuss when an
assassin tried to kill him this summer.
To watch the event is to see signs of someone having a breakdown. Like Joe
Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump in June, when the president’s
fumbling performance and struggle to get sentences out made it impossible
to believe he was up to the task of serving for four years, Trump’s rally last
night would force any reasonable person to conclude that he is not up to the
grueling task of leading the world’s greatest nation, handling economic
crises, or dealing with foreign adversaries.
Which isn’t to say that some people didn’t try to reason through it.
Reporters still seem unsure of how to deal with Trump’s stranger behaviors.
Journalists are trained to take information and make sense of it, even amid
chaos. The problem is that doing so conjures logic where none exists.
Here’s how The New York Times described the night: “Mr. Trump, a political
candidate known for improvisational departures, made a detour. Rather than
try to restart the political program, he seemed to decide in the moment that
it would be more enjoyable for all concerned—and, it appeared, for himself
—to just listen to music instead.” ABC News: “Former President Donald
Trump’s town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Monday evening was
interrupted twice by medical emergencies in a very warm Greater
Philadelphia Expo Center and Fairgrounds before he cut the program short.”
NBC News: “Former President Donald Trump turned a town hall event … into
an impromptu listening party Monday night, playing an unlikely selection of
tunes for more than 30 minutes after the event was paused for medical
emergencies.” The Associated Press: “Donald Trump’s town hall in the
Philadelphia suburbs turned into an impromptu concert Monday after the
former president was twice interrupted by medical emergencies in the
room.”
Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, was blunter. “Hope he’s
okay,” she posted on X. Her reaction is self-interested, but she’s right that
he really may not be okay. A presidential race is exhausting for even a young
and vigorous person, which Trump, 78, is not. He has campaigned far less
this time around than he did in his prior two runs. In the past few weeks, as
the election has neared, he has ramped up his time on the trail, and the
wear is showing. His rallies have been so scattershot and rambling that even
major outlets that long shied away from questions about Trump’s fitness
have had no choice but to address them. In the wee hours of the morning
yesterday, he used Truth Social to demand that Harris take a cognitive test.
He’s lacing into his own donors at private events. He has been blocked from
his usual outlet of playing golf because of security concerns after two
assassination attempts.
Reporters have noticed Trump’s supporters leaving rallies early in recent
weeks, yet many people hung around as Trump bobbed on the stage and
said nothing last night. In a way, the moment seemed to distill a 2024 Trump
rally down to its essence. No one is there to hear policy ideas. Trump has
transgressed so far, for so long, that he can barely shock anymore. Kristi
Noem isn’t a big draw. Instead, people come to say they saw Trump. At one
point, he announced that he’d play “YMCA” and then the event would end,
but attendees stayed, so Trump just kept rolling. The event wrapped up only
around the time that an aide brought Trump a note during “November Rain.”
As horrifying as it all was, no one expects to see a reaction like the
concerted push for change that followed Biden’s debate collapse. It’s too
late in the campaign to switch candidates, and it wouldn’t matter anyway.
Democrats forced Biden out, even though they like him, because they want
to win. But Republican officeholders are terrified of Trump, because rank-
and-file Republican voters worship him in an entirely different way—
something demonstrated by them hanging around for his DJ set and Noem’s
obsequious “sir”s all night. “Total lovefest at the PA townhall!” Steven
Cheung, a campaign spokesperson, posted on X. “Everyone was so excited
they were fainting so @realDonaldTrump turned to music. Nobody wanted to
leave and wanted to hear more songs from the famous DJT Spotify playlist!”
Somewhere, Baghdad Bob was blushing.
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Responses:
[442518] [442510] [442519] [442531] [442528] [442530] |
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442518 |
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Date: October 15, 2024 at 17:18:50
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Trump Breaks Down Onstage |
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Yeah, was looking into this. I'm no longer buying it
was just to give first aid pros a chance to attend to
fainting spectators. He completely shut down the event
for 38 minutes and decided he just didn't want to do it
anymore...38 minutes! He didn't want to answer anymore
questions and just quit and swayed to the music.
I'm waiting now to hear of some other weirdness that
happened at an economic summit today. He apparently
went way off the rails. I haven't seen clips yet of
that, but I'm sure they're coming.
There are rumors that there are some real hush-hush
meetings in the GOP trying to figure out what to do if
he fully collapses.
He may be having a full blown breakdown.
This is why you don't run a 78 yr old candidate. This
is why the Democrats went to Biden and encouraged him
to step back. Biden had enough to listen and understand
the dangers. Trump won't. Now, I don't know if the GOP
can even remove him themselves..and if they found a
way, it would be kicking and screaming no doubt.
Their best chance would be to keep him out of the
limelight any further, then deal with it after the
election.
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Responses:
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442510 |
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Date: October 15, 2024 at 16:41:35
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Trump Breaks Down Onstage |
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kristi didn't know what to do...
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Responses:
[442519] [442531] [442528] [442530] |
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442519 |
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Date: October 15, 2024 at 17:19:25
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Trump Breaks Down Onstage |
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Trump should be glad he's not a puppy.
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Responses:
[442531] [442528] [442530] |
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442531 |
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Date: October 15, 2024 at 19:08:17
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Trump Breaks Down Onstage |
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Responses:
None |
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442528 |
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Date: October 15, 2024 at 18:36:41
From: mitra, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Trump Breaks Down Onstage |
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Normally I would say, as an old Sicilian friend of mine
used to, "better the devil you know" but Vance waits in
the wings, sold to the latest bidder.
I hope Harris wins.
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Responses:
[442530] |
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442530 |
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Date: October 15, 2024 at 19:07:55
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Trump Breaks Down Onstage |
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that is a point that harris is not addressing and should be, consistently! if the orange turd wins and then craps out (which seems highly likely), ol' blue eyes vance will be the pres ...ponder that voters!
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Responses:
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