Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump turned an election campaign event into a dance party, much to everyone's bewilderment. He spent more than 30 minutes swaying to his favourite songs, including the 70's disco hit 'Y.M.C.A.' by the Village People, after medical emergencies interrupted the former US President twice.
On Monday, Trump attended a Town Hall on Monday in Pennsylvania's Oaks suburb moderated by Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who faced widespread criticism earlier this year for an incident she mentioned in her book about killing her pet dog.
The two back-to-back medical emergencies occurred during a question-and-answer session between Trump and Noem. While a doctor was attending to the first person, a second event-goer fainted.
After the second emergency, Trump stopped taking questions and questioned about the lack of air-conditioning in the hall. To this Noem quipped, "They probably can't afford it, sir, in this economy."
In response, the former President said, “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into a music. Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?”
Besides 'Y.M.C.A.', Trump's nine-track playlist also included Rufus Wainwright’s version of 'Hallelujah', James Brown’s 'It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World', Sinead O’Connor's 'Nothing Compares 2 U', Luciano Pavarotti’s rendition of 'Ave Maria' and Guns N' Roses' 'November Rain'.
As the songs played, Trump stood mid-stage swaying and gently bouncing on his heels, with Noem joining in to mimic his movements.
In between the dancing when Noem announced that the second person had recovered, Trump requested for the music to continue playing and said later, "Those two people who went down are patriots. We love them. And because of them, we ended up with some great music..."
For more than 30 minutes, the songs kept playing and Trump continued to show his moves, with people in the audience also letting their hair loose.
He finally left the stage as 'Memory' from the musical "Cats" played.
In a post on his Truth Social app, Trump said, "I had a Town Hall in Pennsylvania last night. It was amazing! The Q and A was almost finished when people began fainting from the excitement and heat. We started playing music while we waited, and just kept it going. So different, but it ended up being a great evening."
HOPE HE'S OKAY: KAMALA HARRIS
Responding to her Republican rival's behaviour, US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris expressed concerns about Trump's mental well-being.
"Hope he's okay," she tweeted on Tuesday.
While addressing an election campaign rally in Philadelphia also on Monday night, Harris played footage of Trump slamming his rivals as “the enemy within”.
“He considers anyone who doesn’t support him or who will not bend to his will an enemy of our country. This is among the reasons I believe so strongly that a second Trump term would be a huge risk for America, and dangerous," the Vice President said.
Also slamming Trump on Tuesday was musician Rufus Wainwright whose version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' was played at the former President's Philadelphia Town Hall.
"The song ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen has become an anthem dedicated to peace, love and acceptance of the truth. I’ve been supremely honoured over the years to be connected with this ode to tolerance. Witnessing Trump and his supporters commune with this music last night was the height of blasphemy," he said in an Instagram post.
"Of course, I in no way condone this and was mortified, but the good in me hopes that perhaps in inhabiting and really listening to the lyrics of Cohen’s masterpiece, Donald Trump just might experience a hint of remorse over what he’s caused. I’m not holding my breath. And needless to say: I am all in for Kamala," he added,
In a tweet later, Wainwright further said that he has "decided not to sing Cohen's 'Hallelujah' until, (let us pray) Donald Trump loses the election".
Published By:
Karishma Saurabh Kalita
Published On:
Oct 16, 2024