Donald Trump made his first outdoor appearance since an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last month—but this time Trump had an added accessory: a bulletproof glass pen.
Speaking in Asheboro, North Carolina, Trump spoke in hopes of deflecting attention away from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which has seen a host of stars and big political names including Barack Obama and even Lil Jon endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 race.
Obama notably poked fun at Trump’s obsession with crowd size, making a “suggestive gesture” with his hands, as The New York Times described it.
Prior to Trump’s appearance was vice presidential pick JD Vance, who defiantly told supporters that “we are going to take this country back.” Adding he watched Tuesday night’s DNC, he complained “Democrats, they think they’ve cracked the code for how to appeal to normal Americans” and decried their use of camouflage hats.
“That’s their strategy for appealing to rural voters?” he chuffed.
Vance returned to the stage to welcome Trump briefly, riling the crowd up before the president thanked him, claiming he’s doing a “fantastic job.”
The former president doubled down on his suggestion that Harris is a secret communist, calling her “Comrade Kamala.”
Yet of the DNC, it was Obama’s comments that appeared to rile the former president most. “Did you see Barack Hussein Obama last night? Taking little shots at your president. He was taking shots at your president, and so was Michelle,” Trump told supporters.
Trump has been criticized by allies in recent weeks for talking less about policy and more about his own personal complaints. Referencing reports, Trump said, “They always say, ‘sir, please stick to policy, don’t get personal,’ and yet they’re getting personal all night long, these people. Do I still have to stick to policy?” Trump questioned to a roaring crowd, before, mocking campaign officials again. “Sir you must stick to policy, you’ll win it on the border, you’ll win it with inflation … sir you’re going to win it on all of these things.”
At the end of the speech, Trump redirected his ire back to Obama: “Now, he was very nasty last night,” said Trump. “I try and be nice to people, you know, but it’s a little tough when they get personal.”
He then polled the crowd, “Should I get personal, or should I not get personal?” Fans went wild for the personal side.
He had earlier called Hillary Clinton, “Crooked Hillary,” Nancy Pelosi “nuts” and “crazy” and Joe Biden “angry” and “seething.”
At one point, he stopped his rally to call for a doctor for a supporter who appeared to be in need.
“It is very hot here, I noticed, it’s very hot and a lot of the people waited for days to get here, so I understand,” Trump said, to a chorus of applause, before walking over and checking on the crowd.
Parts of Trump’s speech were posted by Kamala’s campaign on X, highlighting some of the more disturbing parts of his appearance.
Those moments included an appearance by former National Security Adviser Keith Kellogg, also a a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army, who appeared briefly on stage.
“He’s a real general.. and then we have the fake, woke generals that did so poorly in Afghanistan, should’ve all been fired,” Trump said.
The Harris campaign also pointed out another flub form the former president, who when complaining about the “Afghanistan disaster” name-checked a plane that does not exist.
“We have F-16s, we have F-35s, F-32s, and we were knocking the hell out of them,” Trump said. “It was easy.”
As the Harris campaign noted, there is no such thing as an F-32.
The post Trump Responds to Obama’s ‘Personal’ DNC Crowd Size Diss appeared first on The Daily Beast.