Donald Trump abruptly stopped answering questions at a town hall event in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Monday but instead remained onstage for nearly 40 minutes, dancing and swaying to an eclectic mix of songs as many supporters streamed out of the venue.
The former president paused the question-and-answer session after an attendee suffered a medical issue, and then halted a discussion moderated by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem after another person succumbed to heat inside the building. Panelists on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" compared that to Kamala Harris' recent schedule.
"Here you see the contrast, right? Sitting with Fox News, a hostile audience or a hostile place for her," said Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson. "I mean, Bret Baier is one of the people at Fox News who actually is a journalist. Nonetheless, it won't be friendly questioning. ... Who knows what people will ask? She's putting herself out there in these situations.
"You contrast that, of course, with Donald Trump, who last night, and I'm sorry to go back to this bizarre evening, but who, last night, sits down to do this town hall with Kristi Noem, the dog-shooting governor of South Dakota. First of all, she's in this weird obsequious way always calling him 'sir' this and 'sir' that."
"He gets through a couple questions, and people in the audience, because it is hot, have medical events," he added. "Then he just stops, he plays music, this weird playlist for 39 minutes, according to the Washington Post – we counted, 39 minutes. He stands there on stage swaying to the music."
Trump stood onstage and bopped to a playlist including the Village People's "YMCA," Guns 'n' Roses' "November Rain" and Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2U" as supporters filed to the exits.
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"I try to imagine what the coverage would be like, what the headline would be like if, for example, say Kamala Harris did that, if she did anything like that," Robinson said. "Like, it would be two lines, screaming headlines in newspapers across the world. Donald Trump does it, again, there are stories about it, but it's like, oh, well, yeah, he is that weird. Then we sort of move on. This is not normal behavior, this is not a competent, normal person. This is crazy."
"If you're just waking up wondering what on earth you're watching right now, this is a Donald Trump rally last night in Pennsylvania where there were two – it was incredibly hot in the room, we're told by reporters who were there," added co-host Willie Geist. "People arrive early, stand up for a long time. There were two medical incidents where people passed out. They were both okay, thank goodness.
"After the second person passed out, Donald Trump decided it was time to stop doing the Q-and-A for some reason. I think he sensed people had been standing and maybe were bored. He had his staff just play music for 39 minutes, nine songs, I believe in total, ranging from Pavarotti to Guns 'n' Roses. He took with Gov. Kristi Noem and danced and swayed for 40 minutes, and then left and walked off the stage. Truly a strange scene there."
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