Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump smiles as South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem gestures during a town hall campaign event in Oaks, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 14, 2024. REUTERS/David Muse TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday aimed at what she called "bull----" MAGA "spin" from allies who tried to rationalize former President Donald Trump's town hall a day earlier, in which he answered a few questions and finished with over 40 minutes of swaying to music.
MAGA supporters tried to say the room was filled with love.
"Total lovefest at the PA townhall! Everyone was so excited they were fainting so @realDonaldTrump turned to music,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung wrote on X. “Nobody wanted to leave and wanted to hear more songs from the famous DJT Spotify playlist!”
A "lovefest" is also how Trump described his crowd on Jan. 6 before they sieged the U.S. Capitol and tried to hang Vice President Mike Pence.
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Speaking to former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Wallace pushed back against the explanation.
With the Trump video and a timer running at the bottom of the screen tracking how long he swayed, Wallace brought up a new tactic Vice President Kamala Harris has deployed with videos of Trump's threats playing on a big screen at her rallies.
"She meant what she said in the debate when she invited that massive television audience to watch his rallies," Wallace said.
It referenced a moment in which Harris said that anyone wanting an unbiased account of Trump ought to simply attend a rally.
"And I think the reason she had to resort to playing the clips is because not everybody is broadcasting his rallies," Wallace said.
Fox News has pulled away from Trump's rallies when they become too awkward or boring or could result in possible litigation for the network.
"We're playing the whole thing because I'm not sure where else it's available in its entirety. So, if you love Trump and you missed him on Fox News, I invite you to watch our broadcast. It's in the corner, we can make it bigger for you and post it, but that's what you like, and if the campaign isn't gaslighting all the media when they said today that it was a 'love fest,' let's see if they schedule another sing-along for tomorrow."
Wallace said that if the campaign was being honest about the event's success they'd host more of them.
"If they don't, then spin is bulls---," Wallace said emphatically. "If you're a reporter who covers Trump, you'll know you have been lied to and hopefully you won't do it again. This was not a love fest."
She went on to say that fainting attendees is a normal occurrence.
Trump's campaign requires people to be in line for the rally two hours before Trump is scheduled to speak. So, people can't merely drop in at the last minute and hear the speech and sneak out early. If the weather is hot and people get dehydrated they can have medical emergencies. It's a problem that isn't unique to a party or candidate and it happens frequently, Wallace pointed out.
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