LATROBE, Pa. — LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign suggested he would begin previewing his closing arguments Saturday evening Election Day barely two weeks later. But the former president started his meeting with a detailed story about Arnold Palmerat one point even praising the late, legendary golfer’s genitals.
Trump campaigned in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where Palmer was born in 1929 and learned to play golf from his father, who suffered from polio and was the head pro and greenskeeper at the local country club.
Politicians greeting Palmer in his hometown are nothing new. But Trump spent a full 12 minutes doing so at the start of his speech, even suggesting how much more fun the evening would be if Palmer, who died in 2016, could join him on stage.
“Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that with all due respect to women,” Trump said. “This is a man who was all man.”
Then he went even further.
“When he was showering with other pros, they came from there. They said, ‘Oh my God. That’s unbelievable,” Trump said, laughing. “I had to say. We have women here who are very educated, but they used to think of Arnold as a man.”
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters before the speech that Trump planned to prepare his closing argument against the vice president Kamala Harris and “start getting into that frame.” Candidates have traditionally used their final days on the campaign trail to summarize to the electorate why they deserve to win the White House.
Trump ultimately touched on many of his favorite campaign themes, but didn’t offer much in the way of a new framework for the race or why he should win it. Instead, he boasted that he had created strong tax policies and a strong military during his first term.
He labeled Harris “crazy” and added profanity.
“You need to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, you just can’t take it anymore, we can’t stand you anymore, you’re like a vice president,” Trump said to the roar of the crowd. ‘The worst. You’re the worst vice president. Kamala, you’re fired. Get out of here.’
He also criticized Harris for suggesting during her failed bid to become president in 2020 that she was a ban on hydraulic frackingwhich is important to Pennsylvania’s economy and a position Harris’ campaign says it no longer supports.
Trump invited to the stage members of a local steelworkers union that supported him. He put on a construction hat with his name on it.
He also said that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cried out to him Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
“He said, ‘It’s unbelievable what happened,’” Trump said of Netanyahu’s call before moving on to criticize President Joe Biden, saying the Israeli prime minister “didn’t want to listen to Biden.”
Trump praised the raucous crowd outside and inside an airport, but also suggested there was more high-profile security around him after the two murder attemptssaying, “They give you a little extra security these days, you notice?”
“I’ve got more machine guns than I’ve ever seen – look at these guys,” he said, referring to security. He was interrupted by shouts from the crowd of “USA! USA!” before continuing: “We have more guys, and each of them is also kind of central casting, holy s….”
He then tied it back to Latrobe’s native son, adding, “They look like Arnold.” Can’t look better than Arnold.’
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Weissert reported from Washington.