Donald J. Trump was about 30 minutes into a town hall Monday night in suburban Philadelphia when a medical emergency in the crowd brought the questions and answers to a halt. Moments laterluck9, he tried to get back on track, when another medical incident seemed to derail things, this time for good.
And so Mr. Trump, a political candidate known for improvisational departures, made a detour. Rather than try to restart the political program, he seemed to decide in the moment that it would be more enjoyable for all concerned — and, it appeared, for himself — to just listen to music instead.
Mr. Trump had his staff fire up his campaign playlist, standing on the stage for about half an hour and swaying to songs as his crowd slowly dwindled.
He bobbed his head through the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.,” his usual closing song. He swayed soberly to Rufus Wainwright’s version of “Hallelujah,” watched a Sinead O’Connor video, rocked along to Elvis, watched the crowd during “Rich Men North of Richmond” and then, finally, left the stage to shake hands on his way out during one last song.
The impromptu D.J. session was a strange conclusion to a political event that had started on familiar turf. Aided by Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Mr. Trump answered questions in front of hundreds of people at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pa., about 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
More on the 2024 ElectionDiverging Ground Games: In the final weeks of the 2024 election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are staking their chances on two radically different theories of how to win.
A Splintering Democratic Coalition: Defections from Black and Latino voters are making Harris more dependent on white, suburban voters — and complicating her path to victory.
JD Vance on ‘The Interview’: The Republican vice-presidential candidate rejected the idea that he’s changed, defended his rhetoric and repeatedly refused to acknowledge that Trump lost in 2020.
The inquiries from friendly audience members allowed Mr. Trump to rattle off a series of talking points about the economy and immigration and attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris. But the event’s tone shifted about 30 minutes in, when two people in the crowd needed medical attention after apparently passing out.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.luck9