Donald Trump has been ridiculed after he was left awkwardly swaying and listening to music, including the song “Time to Say Goodbye” at his town hall event in Oaks, Pennsylvania on Monday.
The election campaign event, which was moderated by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was derailed after two people in the audience collapsed and needed medical attention during a Q & A.
The sudden turn of events left Trump needing to improvise and fill the time but after asking if “anybody else would like to faint” he decided the best option would be postpone any more questions and “let’s just listen to music” instead.
What followed next was Trump essentially playing his Spotify playlist for the best part of an hour while Noem awkwardly stood beside him and occassionally nodded.
In contrast, the ex-president didn’t do much else apart from move backwards and forwards very slightly, sometimes interrupting proceedings to address the audience.
The crowd, who bizarrely remained in attendance, were treated to Luciano Pavarotti’s rendition of “Ave Marie,” Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” , Guns N’ Roses “November Rain” and James Brown’s “It’s A Man’s World” to name just a few.
Rufus Wainwright’s version of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah” was also played, which SNL cast member James Austin Johnson pointed out was used on the Shrek soundtrack.
Perhaps the strangest moment was when “Time to Say Goodbye,” made famous by Andrea Boccelli and Sarah Brightman, began to play leaving many to make the same joke.
One person wrote: “This song is called ‘Time to Say Goodbye.’ It’s often sung at funerals but is also the perfect song for Trump.”
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Another said: “‘Time to say goodbye‘ is the most fitting Trump campaign song that’s ever songed.”
A third person joked: “This is the last scene of the eventual HBO movie about this whole thing.”
In response to the strange episode, his election opponent Kamala Harris, simply said: “Hope he’s okay.”
Trump has routinely faced opposition and lawsuit from musicians for playing their songs at his events with Jack White, Abba, Isaac Hayes and Eddy Grant all suing the former president.
During the actual town hall, consumer prices were a major focus for the three people who managed to ask questions before the doctors had to step in. Trump repeatedly said that he’d bring down costs, though he rarely gave much detail.
He did say that he would unleash the US fossil fuels industry to “drill, baby, drill!” – which he promised would slash the price of energy by half within the first 12 months of his presidency.