With the US election just two and a half weeks away, Donald Trump kicked off a rally Saturday night with a lengthy story about the late Arnold Palmer, at one point praising the legendary golfer’s genitals.
Trump was campaigning in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where Palmer was born in 1929 and learned the game of golf from his father, who suffered from polio and was the head pro and greenskeeper at the local country club.
While many who visit Latrobe talk about the great golfer, Trump gave a long, winding monologue about Palmer’s life story and even made a joke about Palmer’s masculinity.
“Arnold Palmer was a man through and through, and I say that with all due respect to women, and I love women,” Trump said. “But this guy, this guy, this guy was all a man. This guy was tough and tough. And I refuse to say it, but when he got in the shower with the other pros, they came out of there and said, ‘Oh my God, this is unbelievable.’
He laughed before continuing: “I had to say.” We have very sophisticated women here, but they are used to looking at Arnold as a man.
FILE – Honorary starter Arnold Palmer attends the ceremonial tee shot to start the first round of the 2016 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 7, 2016 in Augusta, Georgia.
Andrew Reddington/Getty Images
Despite the strange choice of topic, one of Palmer’s daughters, Paige Palmer Wears, said she was not concerned with the comments about her father.
“There’s not much to say. I’m not really upset,” she told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday. “I think it was a poor choice of ways to remember my father, but what are you going to do?”
However, the Harris campaign quickly seized on the former president’s unflattering comments.
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Sarafina Chitica, a spokeswoman for the Harris campaign, asked on X if anyone has “He conducted a health check on Trump.
Harris’ campaign also highlighted the comments, sharing a clip from Fox News, in which the host summarized Trump’s attention to detail.
When CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked panelist Mike Johnson why Trump was talking about Palmer’s genitals and whether that was the message Trump wanted to share with voters in the waning days of his campaign, Johnson dodged the question.
Johnson did not respond until he was pressed about Trump’s acrimony and asked again why there were comments at a rally about Palmer’s masculinity.
“Jake, you seem to like that line a lot,” Johnson told Tapper.
Tapper interrupted, saying, “I don’t want to talk about this, do you? Donald Trump is over there…talking about it.”
Johnson said he would “take it up” and proceeded to compare how long he suspected Trump and President Joe Biden could speak at similar events.
“There are lines at the rally. When President Trump is at a rally, sometimes he speaks for two hours straight. You question his stamina and his mental acuity. Joe Biden couldn’t do that for five minutes,” Johnson said.
Trump also took time in Latrobe to escalate his personal attacks on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, calling her his “Vice President.”
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks behind bulletproof glass during a campaign rally at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, October 19, 2024.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
“Bernie is far left, and this, Kamala, is far left,” Trump told the cheering crowd at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. “And then you have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you can’t take it anymore. We can’t take you. You’re the vice president.”
He then delivered his most famous catchphrase from his day onwards trainee: “The worst. You’re the worst Vice President. Kamala, you’re fired! Get the hell out of here!”
— With files from The Associated Press
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