The Conversation (0)
Liam O'Dell
May 20, 2024
Trump appears to freeze during NRA speech
RSBN
In scenes reminiscent of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell’s ‘freezing’ back in July last year, footage has surfaced of former US president Donald Trump appearing to ‘glitch’ for more than 30 seconds during a speech to the National Rifle Association in Texas on Saturday.
Having already kept the crowd waiting for more than two hours, when he finally took to the lectern, one section saw him leave the audience anticipating what he was going to say next – as he stared into space and shook his head while music played.
He even had to stop his speech at one point to swat flies. At least something was buzzing about what he had to say…
The scenes came a day after Trump spoke at the Minnesota Republican Party’s Lincoln-Reagan fundraising dinner, slating “crappy” workers at the event after almost knocking over the lectern.
“I notice it keeps tilting to the left – like so many other things,” he quipped.
Moments prior to his ‘freezing’ on Saturday, Trump told the gun owners: “The Texas spirit of proud independence was forged by cowboys and cattle hands, ranchers and rangers, oil workers, soldiers and brave, brave, brave, pioneers.
“Many came here with nothing but the boots or their feet, the clothes on their back, and the gun in their saddle. Together they helped make America into the single greatest nation in the history of the world.”
Social media users have since raised questions around the incident, with some querying the suggestion that Trump’s teleprompter was at fault for the silence – a claim which comes despite the Republican being known to go “off-script” on a number of occasions:
Trump, meanwhile, took to his own platform – Truth Social – to attack the campaign team of his presidential election rival Joe Biden for “[putting] out a fake story” about his freezing up on stage.
“The Biden Campaign, however, put out a Fake Story that I ‘froze’ for 30 seconds, going into the ‘Musical Interlude’ section, when in actuality, the 30 to 60 second period of silence is standard in every one of my Speeches where we use the Music. Check out any of my Speeches!
“The reason they came up with this Disinformation is that Biden freezes all the time, can’t put two sentences together, and can rarely find his way off the stage without help. Donald Trump doesn’t freeze!
“It is a MADE UP Biden Campaign story, put out in a dying Newspaper that I never heard of, and every Reporter knows it, including the large group that was there,” he fumed.
Unsurprisingly, Trump used the post as another opportunity to take aim at President Biden’s fitness for office, having branded him “Sleepy Joe” on multiple occasions.
Kids in glass houses, Donald…
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.