‘Hope he’s OK’: Harris trolls Trump after bizarre ‘music fest’
Washington: Kamala Harris has raised concerns about Donald Trump’s mental state after the Republican nominee spent 40 minutes swaying and bopping to his favourite tunes at a bizarre campaign event in his most important battleground state.
With three weeks until election day, Trump raised eyebrows when he turned a town hall appearance in Pennsylvania into an impromptu music festival after two attendees in the crowd had medical issues.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem dance to YMCA at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Centre & Fairgrounds, in Oaks, Pennsylvania.Credit: AP
“Hope he’s okay,” Harris posted on social media alongside edited footage of Trump looking somewhat dazed at the event.
The former president’s bewildering performance took place after two members of the audience required assistance from paramedics.
Trump was meant to take questions from the audience, but decided to change tack after the medical episodes, instructing staff to play some of his favourite songs instead, declaring: “Let’s make this a musical fest.”
He told the crowd: “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?”
Multiple songs were then played: from Luciano Pavarotti’s version of Ave Maria to Trump rally anthem YMCA by the Village People, and his Republican National Convention tune, It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World by James Brown.
For more than 30 minutes, Trump stood on stage swaying or bouncing gently on his heels. He occasionally did his trademark two-handed dance, interacted with attendees sitting behind the stage, or chatted with South Dakota Governor Kristy Noem, who moderated the event.
At one point, he yelled, “All right, turn it up!” to whoever was controlling the music, and later said of the attendees who apparently fainted: “Those two people who went down are patriots. We love them. And because of them, we ended up with some great music, right?”
The event was yet another strange moment in an extraordinary election campaign that has involved everything from shocking assassination attempts to debunked claims about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs.
“Total lovefest at the PA townhall!” his spokesman Steven Cheung 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!”
Democrats, however, seized on the display to throw the spotlight on Trump’s mental acuity and the 78-year-old’s fitness to serve as president.
Since President Joe Biden withdrew from the contest, Trump is now the oldest candidate to run for office.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala HarrisCredit: AP
Harris, 59, released a summary of her medical history at the weekend, using it to goad the former president into doing the same.
“Every other presidential candidate in the modern era has done it,” she said at a rally in North Carolina.
“He is unwilling to do a 60 Minutes interview, like every other major party candidate has done for more than half a century. He is unwilling to meet for a second debate … It makes you wonder: Why does his staff want him to hide away?
“One must question: Are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America?”
Harris speaks at a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, in Erie, PennsylvaniaCredit: AP
Trump, however, branded the request to release his medical records as desperate.
“She is dying to see my Cholesterol (which is 180!), I have already provided them, many times, including quite recently, and they were flawless,” Trump wrote in a midnight post.
He also demanded that the Democratic nominee take a mental agility test to prove she is capable of being a potential president.
“I believe it is very important that Kamala Harris pass a test on Cognitive Stamina and Agility,” he wrote.
“Her actions have led many to believe that there could be something very wrong with her.
“Also, she is slow and lethargic in answering even the easiest of questions. We just went through almost four years of that, we shouldn’t have to do it again!”
Trump’s music fest took place in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state with 19 Electoral College votes – the biggest of all the battlegrounds in play this year. To be elected president, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes.
Both Harris and Trump campaigned there at the weekend; Trump in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and Harris in the bellwether of Erie.
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