7 of the most jaw-dropping moments from Trump's Michigan rally

The US election is now only two months away and doesn’t Donald Trump know it.

Which is why the president made a stop in Michigan on Thursday, which he won by less than 11,000 votes in 2016.

The campaign rally was classic Trump, stuffed with wild, if unsubstantiated claims, and boasts of being friends with dictator Kim Jong-Un. Normal.

Here’s 7 of the most bizarre moments from Trump’s time in the Wolverine state.

1. When he praised totalitarian dictator Kim Jong-un

Trump may have fallen out with many global heads of state but not to worry, he’s still showing how international relations should be done – by praising North Korea’s totalitarian dictator Kim Jong-un.

“He’s a smart guy, we get along,” Trump said. “Getting along with foreign powers is not a bad thing. We’re trying to teach this to the media”.

The president also boasted of his special connection with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, saying it was a “good thing” and followed up by saying his relationship with Kim Jong-un was already bearing fruit as he was “trying to convince him” that it was “ok not to go to war”.

What a masterclass in foreign diplomacy.

2. When he claimed the US had the ‘best’ response to the pandemic

According to Trump, the US response to the pandemic was done “just the right way”. He invoked Winston Churchill, saying:

When Hitler was bombing London, Churchill would go to a roof in London and speak. And he always spoke with calmness [...] No, we’ve done it the right way and we’ve done a job like nobody.

I think we’ve probably done the best job of any major country in the world on the pandemic.

This isn’t even close to being true; at the time of writing the US has both the most recorded coronavirus cases in the world and the highest number of deaths from the virus.

Well Trump certainly has done a “job like nobody”.

3. When he arrived in Michigan to the lyrics “I’m no millionaire's son”

Trump disembarked from Air Force One to the strains of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Fortunate Son’. Sample lyrics:

Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand, 

Lord, don't they help themselves, y'all,

But when the taxman comes to the door

Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yeah

It ain't me, It ain't me

I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no

It ain't me, It ain't me

I ain't no fortunate one, no

Fred Trump’s net worth was estimated to be $300m on his death.

4. When he appeared to make up a fake award

Apparently getting nominated (by a far-right politician) for the Nobel Peace Prize is not enough for Trump. He also now seems to make up fake prizes in order to segue into rambling rants about Mexico and Canada apparently stealing jobs from US citizens (also fake).

There is no record of the award he cllaims to have been nominated for:

“I was given Man of the Year award by somebody (in Michigan),” the president said. “I came in and spent 45 minutes talking about how you’re being ripped off and all your automobile companies are going to Mexico and Canada too.

“At the end I said ‘I hope I haven’t insulted the state too much but why do you let this happen?’ I stopped it”.

Award for anyone who can parse that.

5. When he claimed he didn’t know the identity of Michigan Senator Gary Peters

In an attempt to belittle Michigan Senator Gary Peters, Trump went on a self-contradicting verbal ramble.. “If you want to be well represented you know… your current senator, I don’t even know this guy,” he said.

“Nobody does [...] He comes into the office, I say ‘Who is that guy?’ I know every senator!”

Well, clearly not every senator then.

6. When he threatened to restore “patriotic education”

Citizen, please report to Pod One for your mandatory patriotic education.

7. When he claimed Joe Biden would destroy healthcare protections, despite having introduced them

Trump went on the attack against presidential rival Joe Biden, claiming, among other things, that Biden would “destroy your protections for preexisting conditions”.

Strange, as Biden was part of the administration that fought to pass the Affordable Healthcare Act, preventing insurance companies from refusing to cover people because they had preexisting conditions.

Now why would Trump omit a detail like that?