By Michael Gold
On Saturday, former President Donald Trump delivered an outrageous speech at a Pennsylvania rally, featuring crude jokes about a legendary golfer’s anatomy and a disrespectful jab at Vice President Kamala Harris.
This display, occurring just 17 days before the election in a pivotal state, reinforced the perception of the Republican candidate as more impulsive and undisciplined. Some of Trump’s friends and aides are concerned that his brash demeanor and vulgarity might push away undecided voters.
It remains uncertain whether his provocative comments stemmed from frustration as the campaign progresses or a deep-seated urge to amuse his audience. During her own events on Saturday, Harris highlighted Trump’s temperament and his propensity to “deviate from his script and meander.”
Trump kicked off his speech at the Latrobe airport with a 12-minute nostalgia trip about golfer Arnold Palmer, who hailed from the Western Pennsylvania area and is the namesake of the airport.
The monologue peaked with inappropriate comments regarding Palmer’s anatomy. Shortly after, Trump encouraged the audience to shout an expletive. He then casually used that four-letter word to refer to Harris.
“Such a terrible four years,” Trump remarked about the Biden-Harris administration while looking over the crowd of hundreds. “We had a terrible — consider the — everything they handle turns to —.”
Many in attendance — predominantly adults, but also including some children, babies, and teenagers — enthusiastically completed the sentence, yelling, “Shit!”
Shortly after, Trump called on his followers to vote, telling them to send a vulgar message to Harris: “We can’t tolerate you, you’re a shit vice president.”
As Election Day approaches, Trump’s team framed Saturday’s address as a kickoff to his final pitch to voters. However, the decision to begin his rally with a lengthy anecdote about Palmer — a topic he discussed at length without unnecessary digressions — struck a curious note.
“This is a manly man,” Trump said of Palmer, who passed away in 2016. “He was strong and tough. I hate to say it, but when he showered with other pros, they came out saying, ‘Oh, my God, that’s unbelievable.’”
As the audience reacted, Trump laughed. Later, he added, “I had to share the shower detail because it’s the truth. What can I say? We aim to be honest.”
Trump has always relished shocking his audience, and besides his frequent cursing, he enjoys discussing sexual matters and the appearance of both genders.
However, historically, he had mostly refrained from overtly coarse behavior in public as a candidate or president. Now, during his third presidential campaign and amidst visible anger since Harris entered the race, there has been a significant increase in such conduct, particularly in the closing weeks and days of the campaign.
In rallies, interviews, and social media, he seemingly takes pleasure in using tawdry language that politicians previously avoided. He has shared racially and sexually charged insults aimed at Harris on his Truth Social platform, and he has done little to discourage or soothe crowds that have erupted in profanity regarding those he criticizes.
Just this past week, Trump spoke at a Catholic charity event while standing mere feet from the Archbishop of New York, where he used offensive language while attacking Bill de Blasio, the former New York mayor. “He was an awful mayor,” Trump stated. “I don’t give a shit if this is comedic or not.”
Trump often resorts to a version of that word to reference the four criminal cases he faces. “I won’t say it because I don’t like using the term ‘bullshit’ in front of these lovely kids,” he remarked in June at a megachurch event in Arizona, where the crowd began chanting it simultaneously, much to Trump’s delight.
This was just one of several recent admissions from Trump, including one in Latrobe, acknowledging that his profanity could be problematic. He frequently recounts a message he received from evangelical leader Franklin Graham, urging him to improve his language.
“I replied to him,” Trump said on Saturday. “I told him I’d try to do that, but honestly, the stories wouldn’t be as compelling. You can’t emphasize it the same way. So tonight, I broke my rule.”
Many of the attendees at his rallies reflect his attitude through their clothing, donning shirts, baseball caps, and other attire emblazoned with vulgar phrases, many directed at Harris.
In Latrobe, Trump eventually transitioned to his standard campaign topics. At one moment, he claimed his election could usher in “America’s new golden age.”
This brief instance of optimism in his address was overshadowed as Trump continued to employ dark, and at times aggressive, language to describe the Biden administration, the U.S. economy, and illegal immigration, which he again referred to as a military invasion.
