Donald Trump abandoned taking questions during a bizarre town hall question-and-answer session in Pennsylvania after two separate medical emergencies derailed the event, forcing the former president to ad lib on the spot.
The former president spoke at a town hall event moderated by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem in the small Philadelphia suburb of Oaks on Monday night, where he initially took four questions from supporters on the border and the cost of living before the medical emergencies took place. Afterward, Trump ditched the questions and turned the event into a bizarre dance party.
The mayhem began after Trump answered a question about lowering costs for small businesses, when he cut moderator Noem off to call for a doctor to attend to a medical emergency happening in the crowd.
“That looks a little bit bad,” Trump said from the stage. “This is a little bit of a tough one.”
About five minutes after the emergency began–as Trump and Noem appeared unsure of what to do onstage–members of the crowd began singing “God Bless America.”
Trump seemed to be inspired by the music, and quickly requested his sound engineer play “Ave Maria.” An opera singer sang the popular Franz Schubert song at his second rally in Butler, Pennsylvania during a moment to honor Corey Comperatore, the man killed during the assassination attempt at the same location in July.
An instrumental version of the song played as the victim was presumably led out of the venue, while rallygoers chanted “USA!”
Trump began answering another question about his plans to deport illegal aliens, but minutes into his spiel members of the crowd began yelling and pointing to another attendee. Others began yelling and complaining about the heat. “Ave Maria” began playing on the house speakers again.
This time, the former president walked to the side of the stage to speak to an aide. He told the crowd he was trying to get the venue to open a set of doors to deal with the temperature.
“For security reasons, they can’t but you know what—I should just open them. Because you know if anybody comes through, you know what is going to happen to them.”
“It looks like she is on her feet and walking out,” Trump said several minutes later. “Let’s let her know we will be praying for her.”
Trump continued to fill the void of silence, admitting the venue was “really warm,” and Noem asked attendees to sit down and continue the Q&A session. But at this point, the former president had other ideas.
“Personally, I enjoy this. We lose weight, you know, you lose weight. We could do this, lose four or five pounds—it’s ok with me,” the former president said.
“They’re both OK, they’re both in good shape,” Trump eventually said. “Would anybody else like to faint? Please raise your hand.”
But Trump never made it back to he question-and-answer session—instead directing the audience to look at his “favorite chart” while his preferred version of “Ave Maria” (apparently, the popular version sung by the late Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti).
“Let’s not do any more questions, let’s just listen to music,” Trump joked. “Who the hell wants to hear questions? The former president continued riffing for minutes about the need to win Pennsylvania before walking out to another Italian classic—a performance of “Con te partirò,” originally made famous by Andrea Bocelli.
Medical emergencies at these kinds of large political rallies are not uncommon. Trump had to stop his recent speeches in Coachella, California and Butler, Pennsylvania to address medical emergencies, and Kamala Harris has had to do the same at a rally in Wisconsin in August.
The post Trump Improvises After Two Separate Medical Emergencies Derail Town Hall appeared first on The Daily Beast.
