'These stupid people': Crowd-obsessed Trump throws staffers under the bus
Former President Donald Trump threw his campaign staff under the bus amid a rambling rant that touched on airplane delays, "little" Hurricane Helene, the importance of wealthy people and the size of his crowds.
Trump delivered an hour-long speech during a campaign rally in Walker, Michigan, Friday afternoon during which he argued — despite taunts from Vice President Kamala Harris and multiple videos and reports from outside his campaign events — that no one ever left early.
"The people that you see leaving?" Trump said. "Nobody ever leaves. And when they do, I finish up quick."
Trump demanded the crowd believe this contradictory statement and then attempted to explain what he felt was happening.
"I couldn't take pictures at the beginning so I take them at the end sometimes if I'm late, the plane gets late, you get delayed, lots of things happen there's a little hurricane going on in Florida, as you know," said Trump. "What they do is they say, 'Oh please come up now' at the end of my speech."
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Trump was apparently referring to campaign staffers as his next comment had him barking orders and giving commands to the people asking attendees to line up at the end of his speeches.
"I said, 'Don't do that!' because it looks like they're leaving," Trump said. He then caught the eye of a person in the audience.
"Like your husband who owns this place," Trump said. "He's not leaving — he likes Trump very much — he made a lot of money because of Trump, right? Right?"
Trump waited for cheers then continued to explain.
"But these stupid people that are with me sometimes, they say, 'Come on back,'" Trump said. "Thirty people, they get up and they go back and they're all lined up waiting in the back, waiting for me to take a picture, because I couldn't do it before, because I didn't want to keep you waiting, because you're much more important than the wealthy people."
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