On Monday night, Donald Trump took a virtual hiatus from denouncing immigrants and advocating for a military takedown on his political rivals. Following many medical emergencies among the attendees at his town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Trump said there would be no more questions and instead had an unplanned listening party. Most people said it was quite unusual.
According to the Trump team, three attendees of the rally were transported to a nearby hospital. It’s unclear how they are doing and why they might have fallen.
After the first medical incident, the town hall was initially halted so a doctor could tend to the sick person. As everyone waited, Trump asked that “Ave Maria” be played over the speakers. An instrumental rendition of the song then started.
“The room was toasty,” according to NBC News, and “a handful of people in the crowd yelled ‘open the doors’ after the second incident”:
The event’s moderator, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, was then requested by Trump to fetch someone to open the door. .. In an apparent attempt to find a solution, Trump spoke with a Secret Service agent. “They can’t [open the doors] for security reasons,” he informed the assembly. However, I told you to just open them. Because you can predict what will happen to anyone who enters those doors. The assembly applauded. ..
The two of them joked that because of the state of the economy, the building could not afford air conditioning. Trump made another joke, asking if anyone else wanted to pass out. Would you kindly raise your hand?
Following the second medical incident, Trump asked for “Ave Maria” again, this time stating that he preferred the vocal version performed by Luciano Pavarotti.
Additionally, he joked that if Justin, a staff member, didn’t play the appropriate song, he would fire him:
It was time to turn on “Time to Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli. Having listened to James Brown, Trump started talking again, perhaps recalling that he was still at a town hall meeting.
“This election is the most significant in our nation’s history,”
Trump stated, charging Democrats of manipulating elections once more. Then he returned to his musical endeavours.
“We love those two patriots that went down, and we ended up with some good music because of them, right?” he enquired. “YMCA, then! Come on, let’s have a great time!
“All right, everyone, this is it,” Noem said.
The Village People song from the 1970s, which honours gay cruising culture, was applauded and danced to by the crowd. Noem raised her hands to form a “Y.” “Nobody’s leaving,” Trump mouthed as the song came to a conclusion.
“Why are people staying? What’s going on? Nobody is departing. “Hallelujah” in the style of Rufus Wainwright came on next, and he said, “Keep going.” “All right, cranked up the music! Increase that. Fantastic tune!
Next was Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nobody Compares 2 U.” Elvis Presley’s “An American Trilogy” Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” Trump got up and staggered.
He left the stage as Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” began to play.
Trump was reportedly “sometimes swaying along to the music while staring into the distance,” according to NBC.
At last, he departed the venue to Cats’ “Memory.”
Here is a video that shows what was visible from within the event:
The bizarre sequence of events was immediately hailed by the Trump team as proof of how entertaining and accessible he is. The Harris campaign emphasised that Trump was acting strangely.
I did a brief search and could not find any credible polling on the value Pennsylvanian undecided voters place on a presidential candidate’s willingness to muck around on stage and listen to music for no apparent reason.
