Former President Donald Trump’s town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Monday evening was interrupted twice by medical emergencies in a very warm Greater Philadelphia Expo Center and Fairgrounds before he pivoted — turning the concert into an impromptu concert where he stood on stage swaying to music for nearly 45 minutes.
There was a medical emergency that required an attendee to be placed on a stretcher about 30 minutes into the event. As the crowd started singing “God Bless America,” Trump requested that “Ave Maria” be played on the loudspeakers as medics tended to the man.
Moments later, there was a second medical emergency.
“The safety and well-being of President Trump’s supporters is always his top priority,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign press secretary, said in a statement to ABC News after the event. “The two individuals who fainted were immediately given medical attention. As President Trump said tonight, they are great patriots,” Leavitt added.
Trump took four questions, before the first medical emergency occurred.
Following the medical emergencies, Trump requested that the doors be opened but he was advised that for security reasons that wasn’t possible. Both Trump and moderator South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem commented on the heat in the room.
“Open the doors. I wish we could open those doors to outside,” Trump said. “For security reasons, they can’t. But you know what I suggest? Open them. Because anybody comes through those doors, you know what’s going to happen to them.”
“Personally, I enjoy this. We lose weight, you know. No, you lose weight. We could do this — lose four or five pounds,” Trump quipped.
Trump then requested that “Ave Maria” be played again and remained on stage as more music was played.
He continued, “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into a music fest. Who the hell wants to hear questions right? Isn’t that beautiful?”
The former president, adamant about playing his music, stood on stage for nearly 45 minutes swaying to several songs on his playlist as the crowd sang and danced along.
The crowd slowly dispersed, but many stayed for the entirety of the campaign event.
“To lighten the mood, President Trump turned the town hall into an impromptu concert and the crowd loved it,” Leavitt told ABC News, adding, “The room was full of joy.”
On Tuesday, Trump addressed the town hall on his social media platform, calling the event “so different.”
“It ended up being a GREAT EVENING!” Trump wrote on social media.
The Trump campaign has classified those who fell ill as “great patriots” and suggested, “the room was full of joy.”
Notably, with 22 days until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris was also in Pennsylvania on Monday evening stumping to voters in the critical battleground swing state whereas Trump largely dodged answering questions during the actual town hall portion of his event.
In a post on X early Tuesday morning, Harris reposted a video from her campaign’s Kamala HQ account of Trump swaying to music for nearly 45-minutes at his Oaks town hall on Monday, writing “Hope he’s okay.”
Following the concert, Trump made his way to the front row, signing red MAGA hats and 47 signs.
Trump’s movement was noteworthy as he hasn’t interacted with a large crowd to that extent since his attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.