Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:41 pm
Since winning the election, President-elect Donald Trump has avoided taking questions from the press and has instead opted to hold a series of rallies during what he is calling his “Thank You Tour.”
During these campaign-style events, Trump has stuck largely to the same script, as if he is still running for president.
But for a sizable portion of Thursday night’s self-congratulatory event in Pennsylvania, the president-elect ditched his teleprompter and returned to the incoherent babbling that defined much of his presidential campaign.
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That was particularly evident at one point in the speech, when Trump essentially admitted that his supporters were “crazed” until he won the election.
Video:
Trump says 'Thank You' rally crowd is "laid back" compared to "crazed" pre-election audience. "It's much different" https://t.co/RjDKCQCiEo
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 16, 2016
“Before the election, you people are like wild beasts, wild animals … They are screaming: ‘Jail, jail, prison,’ going crazy,” Trump said. “Before the election, they are brutal. They are so crazed. You are like crazy people, and that’s good, I like that. And now you are laid back … You’ve won, you feel great about it and you don’t have to go totally wild.”
Instead of keeping with his staff-prepared script, which included a more serious speech focused around policy ideas, at various points in the address, the president-elect was more interested in attacking the media, insulting political foes, proposing to “do something” about flag burning, and again repeating the lie that his Electoral College victory was a landslide.
Trump should be using these events to bring people together and show the country he is serious about the office he’s about to assume. Instead, his appearances have reaffirmed the fact that he is only interested in the reality-show aspect of politics.
With just 35 days until Trump is sworn in, there is no sign that the president-elect ever intends to change.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
