With three weeks remaining in the election cycle, Kamala Harris is increasingly focused on Donald Trump’s steadiness — or lack thereof. In fact, at the Democratic vice president’s most recent rally, she specifically referred to the former Republican president as “unstable,” a week after The New York Times ran a front-page report noting that the GOP nominee “has seemed confused, forgetful, incoherent [and] disconnected from reality lately.”
If Trump hoped a townhall-style event just north of Philadelphia would help end such chatter, he was likely disappointed once it was over. NBC News reported:
Former President Donald Trump turned a town hall event in front of supporters in Oaks, Pennsylvania into an impromptu listening party Monday night, playing a unlikely selection of tunes for more than 30 minutes after the event was paused for medical emergencies. Trump is famed for his lengthy and unorthodox political rallies, but none have followed such an unusual format, featuring the Republican nominee swaying along and occasionally punching the air to songs….
To be sure, there was some Q&A during the event. Someone asked Trump about his plan to address grocery prices, for example, and his odd answer included references to Hannibal Lecter — who remains a fictional character that the former president frequently talks about for reasons unknown — and immigrants taking Black jobs.
During a different exchange, Trump encouraged his supporters to vote on “January 5th,” flubbing the date of Election Day.
But there were apparently a couple of medical emergencies in the audience, which prompted the candidate to just stand there for more than a half-hour, unsure what to say or do, while a variety of songs played over the loudspeaker.
The Washington Post published a headline that read, “Trump sways and bops to music for 39 minutes in bizarre town hall episode,” which summarized matters nicely.
I can appreciate the awkwardness of the circumstances. As first responders tended to a couple of attendees, it’s likely that Trump didn’t just want to proceed with the townhall as if nothing had happened. But he could’ve spoken to his supporters or perhaps had some back-and-forth with South Dakoka Gov. Kristi Noem, who was moderating the gathering.
Instead, there was a lot of this:
At one point during the event — which was ostensibly supposed to focus on Trump’s policy vision — the former president told his supporters, “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into our music. Who the hell wants to hear questions? Right?”
Of course, the point of the townhall was to allow attendees to ask questions, which made it all the more peculiar to hear Trump ask, “Who the hell wants to hear questions?”
Not surprisingly, quite a few people left before the Republican exited the stage himself.
The Post’s report added that Trump “turned the event into almost a living-room listening session of his favorite songs from his self-curated rally playlist,” adding, “As Trump stood onstage in his oversize suit and bright red tie, swaying back and forth, it was almost as if he were taking a trip back to decades past. Trump’s decision to cut short the question-and-answer portion of the town hall and instead have the crowd stay to listen to his favorite songs was a somewhat bizarre move, given that the election was only 22 days away.”
If the former president wants questions about his mental fitness and cognitive abilities to go away, he’ll have to do better than this.
Indeed, Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii wrote online the morning after the event, “That thing Trump did last night is not explainable and it is not small. It shows that he’s increasingly detached from reality. Everyone knows if Biden or Harris did that it would be media mayhem. He’s not ok, and you can’t ignore it anymore.”
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
