Donald Trump‘s town hall in the Philadelphia suburbs turned into an impromptu concert on Monday evening, October 14, after the former US president was twice interrupted by medical emergencies in the room.
The Republican presidential nominee paused during a question-and-answer session as a doctor in the room attended to the first person to have a medical issue. After a second emergency halted the discussion moderated by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump stopped taking questions. He and Noem mentioned it was hot in the venue, and Trump asked about air conditioning.
“They probably can’t afford it, sir, in this economy,” Noem quipped.
During the first interruption, Trump requested “Ave Maria” be played and was answered with an instrumental version of the song. During the second incident, he said he meant he wanted Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotti’s version of the song. It was played for him.
Once Noem announced the second person was up and moving, Trump spoke for a few more minutes before calling for music to be played, as many in the crowd lingered, unsure whether he was done speaking.
“Those two people who went down are patriots,” Trump said after the music. “We love them. And because of them, we ended up with some great music, right?”
Trump suggested they could wrap up the evening with the audience in their seats, enjoying some musical selections rather than hearing him answer more questions.
He called for the Village People’s “YMCA” and it blasted through the loudspeakers, the usual signal that Trump is done speaking and is ready to leave. But he remained onstage.
More music, more dancing.
“Nobody’s leaving,” Trump said. “What’s going on?”
More music played and for roughly 40 minutes, it didn’t stop.
Trump danced onstage to a playlist of songs that included Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Rufus Wainwright’s cover of “Hallelujah” and Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain.”
CNN reporter:
“Trump decided the thing he would do instead of taking questions would be to start calling out songs he wanted played and dance. It went on for 39 minutes. People in the crowd seemed somewhat confused. One of the people on stage was checking things on his phone.” pic.twitter.com/HZg8k43gXx
— Ian Sams (@IanSams) October 15, 2024