Donald Trump’s campaign wants its candidate to talk more about policy, but on Monday night it was all about the music.
Trump was in Oaks, Pennsylvania, to host the type of town hall event his advisers hope will keep the former president on track talking both about his policy positions and those of his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. But the evening quickly took a bizarre turn after two rallygoers had medical issues.
Rather than continue after paramedics assisted the two people, Trump instructed his staff to just play music from a playlist he has personally curated and famously often turns on during dinners at Mar-a-Lago.
“Who the hell wants to hear questions?” Trump said at the event where the entire point was to take audience questions. “Right?”
What followed was more than 30 minutes of Trump swaying on stage and occasionally doing his well-known two-handed dance to some of his favorite tunes, chatting with the event’s host, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and occasionally interacting with attendees who were seated behind the stage.
“This is the weirdest church service I have ever been to,” a first-time rallygoer who did not give their name told NBC News of the music portion of the event, which opened with “Ave Maria.”
Not only did the unorthodox event come just weeks ahead of Election Day in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, but it also came at a time when Democrats have tried to increasingly turn the attention to Trump’s mental acuity and the 78-year-old’s fitness to serve as president.
“Voters are just starting to tune in, and objectively they are seeing a diminished Trump, one who rambles for hours at end, makes no sense, freezes for 30 minutes and forces people to listen to his Spotify playlist. It’s bizarre and raises more and more concerns for voters,” said a Harris campaign adviser who also previously worked for President Joe Biden.
Over the weekend, Harris released a summ of her medical history, using the moment to imply that Trump was not up to the task because he has so far refused to release his own.
“One must question … are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America,” she said. “Is that what’s going on?”
Harris appeared to double down on that sentiment after Trump’s town hall, writing on social media, “Hope he’s okay,” with a post from her campaign that noted that Trump looked “lost, confused and frozen on stage.”
Questions about Biden’s mental acuity, especially after his disastrous debate performance in June, ultimately forced the 81-year-old out of the race. Democrats are now increasingly trying to flip that script on Trump, who would be the oldest person elected president if he wins in November.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, took a more direct approach, calling the incident “not small.”
“It shows that he is increasingly detached from reality,” Schatz posted. “Everyone knows if Biden or Harris did that it would be media mayhem. He’s not ok, and you can’t ignore it anymore.”
In a social media post overnight, Trump called Harris’ request for him to release his medical records “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 at 12:43 a.m. Tuesday.
Trump has not released his medical records while running for president this cycle.
His campaign said that not only was there no issue with Trump during the town hall, but also that the music-filled moment showed a connection with his supporters that is so strong it’s what prompted people to faint.
“Total lovefest at the PA townhall!” Steven Cheung, a campaign spokesman, posted on social media. “Nobody wanted to leave and wanted to hear more songs from the famous DJT Spotify playlist!”
An official statement from the campaign came a short time later, proactively pushing back on what it assumed would be the idea that the listening session was any indication of Trump slipping mentally.
“President Trump has more energy and more stamina than anyone in politics, and is the smartest leader this country has ever seen,” the statement read. “He does multiple public events every single day and the public can see he is sharper and more focused than ever before because the future of America is at stake.”
On Tuesday, Cheung told NBC News that the listening session came “out of respect for those who fainted at the event because they were so excited to see President Trump.”
“He made the decision to entertain the crowd with music and everyone loved it,” Cheung said.
Once it was clear that Trump wanted to listen to music, campaign staff behind the scenes started to scramble to accommodate the request. A campaign staffer would write on a piece of paper the songs they knew Trump would want to hear and give it to the audio person, who would play the music, according to a source familiar with the evening.
The town hall led to Trump being late for a tele-rally with Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick. Trump jumped onto an administrative line set up for staff shortly before the call was set to begin, and when told he was 45 minutes late told those on the line, “I just listened to music with these people and it was great. OK, let’s get started,” according to a person on the call.
Another person familiar with the event told NBC News they understand the appearance of awkwardness as the event transformed from a town hall to a music-listening session, but that was due to a miscommunication with Noem after the medical issues. From the stage, she tried to end the event even as Trump wanted to take two more questions — something that did not happen because of the miscommunication; Trump then just allowed the music to continue to play, the source said.
Generally speaking, Trump supporters in attendance said they enjoyed the moment and saw it as a chance to connect with their preferred candidate for president.
“I loved it,” said Jay Bauer, who was in attendance from Montgomery County. “I felt like I was sitting in a room with him. Just him. I could have been here another hour, another two hours. I was just great spending time with the president.”
Bauer’s wife, Janice Bauer, said she expected him to “take more questions,” but her opinion of Trump has not changed.
“I thought he would talk longer,” she said. “However, I still will vote for him. I think he’s a very good candidate … the concert was great.”
One day after the event, attendee Cecilia Harkness told NBC News that she enjoyed the Trump-led music fest, and said she would have no criticism if Harris had been put in the same situation.
“I wouldn’t care if there was a situation that warranted it, such as what happened last night,” she said.
