Trump makes bizarre joke while talking to couple whose son died at war

A Donald Trump town hall full of odd moments was punctuated by a joke the former president made about getting shot to a couple whose son died at war in Afghanistan. The discussion with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in Oaks, Pennsylvania, turned into an impromptu concert after the former president was twice interrupted by medical emergencies in the room.

But at one point, Noem introduced Mary and Charles Strange, a Gold Star family whose son Michael was killed while serving in Afghanistan in 2011. Trump and Noem encouraged the Strange family to come up on stage, but Trump then cracked a joke about getting up to meet them. ‘It’s a little harder to get up since I got shot. It made it more difficult. Perhaps that’s the way it’s supposed to be,’ he said.

Noem forced a chuckle before reintroducing the Strange family: ‘They lost their son, Michael (Pictured). Come on up here.’ Both Trump and the family moved past it, with Charles Strange asking the president to launch a Congressional investigation into his son’s death. ‘My son was killed August 6, 2011 with 29 other men. It was the biggest loss of life in the Iraq and Afghan war,’ Strange said. ’22 of them men were Navy Special Warfare. Til this day, we still haven’t gotten any answers. I was wondering, I’m begging you, we would like a congressional hearing.’

Trump replied: ‘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. He completed his plan by inviting Charles and Mary Strange to visit him after he’s elected. We’re gonna find out because so many people are in your same position. They want to know what happened, why did it happen to their son or daughter, and we’re gonna do that in the first week. So you get ready to come over to the White House, okay?’

The event on Monday evening was billed as a ‘town hall’ and a chance for Trump to answer questions on the economy from voters who could decide the outcome of the whole election. But after just 32 minutes of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem gamely chairing the question and answer session he was alerted to a commotion in the crowd. ‘A doctor please,’ said Trump. The crowd fell silent as a medic went about their work. ‘This is a little bit of a rough one,’ said Trump, looking down from the stage in concern.

Minutes later, after an audience member named Heather had managed to ask a question about the border, a second person was taken ill. People around her waved their campaign signs like fans. With another pause in proceedings, people at the back of the crammed and overheated hall saw their chance and began streaming for the exit. ‘While we’re waiting… So we had a beautiful evening, and I don’t know if they could get this song up quickly, but if they could work really quickly backstage while we’re waiting… Ave Maria,’ said Trump, explaining that it provided a magical moment at his rally in Butler a week ago. ‘If you can get it Justin, let’s go.’

He directed his staff to put up his ‘favorite chart’ (showing blue and yellow peaks of illegal immigration, which he credits with saving him from an assassin’s bullets) and so it was that Trump hatched an impromptu music fest. There was Ave Maria, first a wordless version much to Trump’s displeasure, and then one featuring Pavarotti.

At one point, an aide appeared at his side with a piece of paper, allowing Trump to play D.J. by picking out a playlist, analogue-style: Guns N Rose’s ‘November Rain’ and ‘Memory’ from the show Cats could be seen. And then it was one of Trump’s favorite songs of all time: ‘It’s a Man’s World,’ featuring Pavarotti and James Brown. Trump swayed slightly, looking into the middle distance as Noem clutched her hands to her sides. If she was wondering what was happening, the audience did not care: They were all smiles and cheers, waving red MAGA hats in the air.

Ever the showman, Trump now had to work out how to exit the stage. ‘We could so another question or two, if you’d like… probably you want to do one,’ he said doubtfully. ‘But it ends so beautifully. How about this? We’ll play YMCA .. but listen, whatever you can do, get out there. We have to win. This is important.’ This was not the how the evening was supposed to go. And Trump did at least remember to rally the troops. ‘If we win Pennsylvania we win the whole thing,’ he said.

With the familiar disco strains of the Village People playing, Trump and Noem turned into goofy teens, throwing shapes as the remains of the crowd joined in or drifted away. Pennsylvania has more electoral votes, 19, than any of the other six battleground states. Its voters have enjoyed an outsized amount of attention with 46 stops by the two candidates, according to a tally kept by the Associated Press. President Joe Biden will be at a fundraiser in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Harris is back in the state on Wednesday and Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s running mate, has two events in Pennsylvania during the week.

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