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As long as we are on the subject of Donald Trump's mental health, we are now going to write about his rally/town hall yesterday. We don't usually do that, but he was in particularly bizarre form.
Trump was in Oaks, PA. That's a suburb less than 20 miles from Philadelphia, which would not seem to be Trump territory, but when a state is that swingy, you go wherever you can go. Anyhow, let's start with the somewhat minor, but very Freudian, slip of the tongue that Trump issued forth with. Urging his people to get their ballots cast, he said he hopes "everybody gets out on January 5th." This was part of a nearly un-parseable word salad, although it was nonetheless clear that he meant November 5th. That said, this is dangerously close to saying he hopes that everyone gets out on January 6th, maybe for a little bit of insurrection. As we said, Freudian slip, at least from where we sit.
Moving on, Trump was eventually joined on stage by Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) and then by Mary and Charles Strange, Gold Star parents who lost their son in 2011. As the Stranges made their way on stage, Trump made a joke about also having been shot, and how that makes it harder to move about (because apparently he walks on his ear?). It was inappropriate enough that even Noem, the noted dog killer, was taken aback and tried to correct the former president. Once Charles Strange had time to say his piece, which was basically to ask for an investigation into his son's death, Trump responded:
So here's what we're going to do. In the first week—not the first day because I made a lot of promises in the first day, we're gonna drill baby drill, we're gonna close up the border, we're gonna do a lot in the first day. In the first week, we will set up a commission.
We think that everyone can agree that the most important thing on the minds of grieving parents is how the U.S. is going to increase its production of fossil fuels.
Thereafter is when things got really weird. There were two different incidents, during the event, where an attendee fainted (ostensibly due to heat), and Trump had to pause. Eventually, the former president declared that he and everyone else were tired of questions, and that the time had come for some music. And so, he wrapped things up, and then he spent more than half an hour wandering around on stage, and sometimes vaguely dancing, while various bits of music played. See for yourself here, if you wish:
The playlist was... unusual. There was some classical stuff, like "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti. There was "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown. There was "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People, which is a signature song at Trump events, because apparently nobody in his campaign has yet figured out what it's about. Other songs included "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, "Nothing Compares to U" by Sinead O'Connor, "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses, and the godawful "Rich Men North of Richmond" by Oliver Anthony Music (yes, that's his actual stage name). Recall that Trump has received cease and desist letters for more than half of these songs, telling him to stop using them.
The Harris campaign has already commented on this, tweeting: "Trump appears lost, confused, and frozen on stage as multiple songs play for 30+ minutes and the crowd pours out of the venue early." And the candidate herself added to that, reposting the tweet to her personal account, and adding "Hope he's OK." We think the answer to that question has become clear: "No, no he's not OK." (Z)