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Last Updated: October 16, 2024, 15:09 IST
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a town hall campaign event in Oaks, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 14, 2024. (Reuters)
On Monday, Trump attended a Town Hall on Monday in Pennsylvania's Oaks suburb moderated by Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump turned an election campaign event into a dance party as he swayed to the 70’s disco hit ‘Y.M.C.A.’ by the Village People after medical emergencies interrupted his town hall twice.
The former US President was in Pennsylvania’s Oaks suburb on Monday when the two incidents happened during a show moderated by Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. US media reported that the first medical emergency that required an attendee to be placed on a stretcher less than an hour into the event.
As the crowd started singing “God Bless America,” Trump requested that “Ave Maria” be played as medics tended to the man. Shortly after that, there was another medical emergency. “The two individuals who fainted were immediately given medical attention,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign press secretary, said in a statement to ABC News.
Donald Trump’s townhall in the Philadelphia suburbs came to a premature end and transformed into an impromptu dance party after multiple audience members fainted. Trump danced from the stage for 39 mins as songs including YMCA Hallelujah and Nothing Compares 2 U were played pic.twitter.com/tofR5uarAs— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) October 15, 2024
‘Lost, confused, and frozen on stage’
Kamala Harris went after her US presidential election rival’s mental state and fitness for office Tuesday after the 78-year-old Republican’s televised town hall veered into an impromptu session. Three weeks ahead of the US election, Harris’s campaign has begun to focus aggressively on Trump’s health and mental stability, and was quick to weigh in, saying the ex-president appeared “lost, confused, and frozen on stage.”
For about half an hour, Monday’s event in Oaks near Philadelphia was standard fare ahead of the November 5 election, as Trump took friendly questions from supporters on the economy. But a pause for two medical emergencies in the crowd turned into a bizarre 39 minutes of music and dancing as Trump abandoned the discussion of the election to put on his favorite hits, swaying awkwardly on stage.
Disco anthem ‘YMCA’
“Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?” he said, bringing the Q&A section to an abrupt end and telling his people to crank up the volume. Trump has made a brief, jerky dance his signature at the end of rallies for years, nearly always to his exit song — the Village People’s 1978 disco anthem “YMCA.”
On Monday, however, he stayed on stage for nine songs, ranging from opera to Guns N’ Roses and Elvis, with the ex-president alternating his dance moves with standing in place and staring into the crowd. “Hope he’s okay,” Harris opined dryly on X. Undeterred, Trump was bopping to the Village People again Tuesday at a rally in Atlanta, where he turned up 90 minutes late and didn’t mention the previous night’s events or the criticism.
Harris and Trump are locked in a dead heat, according to polls, and the election is set to be decided by seven swing states where the margins could come down to a few thousand votes each. The Republican is the oldest person ever to be nominated for a presidential bid, after Biden dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate that sparked fears about his own age.
Trump has not released a recent comprehensive report on his state of health, prompting fierce criticism from Harris, 59, who has increasingly been homing in on Trump’s age and physical and mental condition. It was the topic of her closing argument as she sat down with popular radio host Charlamagne tha God in an effort to boost her messaging to Black male voters — a part of the electorate where Trump has made gains.
(With agency inputs)
