Former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a town hall on Monday at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.
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On Monday night, Trump’s town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, turned from a question-and-answer session into a bizarre musical event with Mr. Trump standing in front of the audience for an extended period of time as songs played on the sound system.
The town hall portion of the event lasted nearly an hour and was moderated by Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Trump ally.
All of the questioners were positive about Trump, asking questions about how to curb inflation and revitalize small businesses.
City Hall was suspended twice after crowds caused emergency personnel to be called. The audience cried out that the room was too hot.
Trump and Noem waited on stage as medical workers treated people affected by the heat. During the first pause, the crowd sang “God Bless America” together, then President Trump asked someone to play “Ave Maria” on the sound system. Immediately the instrumental version started playing.
Shortly after City Hall reopened, there was another request for a doctor.
“There’s steam in here!” one man shouted as they waited for help, and the instrumental Ave Maria was played again until the victim got help.
President Trump joked about the heat in the room, saying, “Personally, I enjoy this. It makes me lose weight. I could probably lose four or five pounds with this.”
Trump also asked for his “favorite drawing” to be shown on the screen. It’s a picture of the border crossing shown on July 13th when an assassin fired at Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, hitting him in the ear. Additionally, someone asked me to play a version of “Ave Maria” sung by Luciano Pavarotti.
“We’re going to do some music. Let’s make this a music festival,” he said.
Trump remained on stage until the song ended, at which point he called off the question-and-answer portion of the night.
“No more questions, just listen to the music,” he said.
Trump then ended the questioning portion and asked the audience to stick around.
“By the way, when we leave, you don’t have to go in such a hurry. You can sit and listen. We’ll play some songs. Some people might get a little heated, but it’s okay. That’s not bad. I don’t think so. I can do that if you want, but I think it’s a beautiful thing, don’t you?
“I think that’s great, sir,” Noem said.
“It’s great to have an imagination – isn’t it great to have an imagination?”
Trump remained on stage for more than 30 minutes as a variety of songs were played, including Rufus Wainwright’s “Hallelujah” and Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain.”
On Tuesday, Trump posted on his Truth social, He called the night “amazing.”
“The Q&A was almost over when people started passing out from the excitement and heat,” he said. “While we were waiting, we started playing music and kept it going. It was very different, but it turned out to be a great night!”
The town hall took place with three weeks left in the voting period and with most polls showing Trump and Harris remaining statistically tied. Both candidates deliver closing messages and draw contrasts with their rivals across the country. President Trump will deliver remarks on the economy in Chicago on Tuesday and will pre-record a town hall with women voters for Fox News to air on Wednesday. Harris has been holding town halls with popular radio host Charlamagne the God to appeal to black male voters.