DETROIT (AP) — Donald Trump walked on stage at a rally in Detroit on Friday night in silence for nearly 20 minutes after his microphone went off.
Watch the event in the player above.
The Republican candidate and former president was working on naming one of his favorite subjects, tariffs, by first teasingly calling it “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.” The sound soon became quieter.
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The crowd chanted “USA” and “We love Trump” in support. But Trump simply walked around the stage without a microphone. He seemed irritated and sometimes turned his back on most of the audience.
It’s the second time in a week that his event has been interrupted, the last time being on Monday, when President Trump interrupted a town hall and replaced it with music after multiple people in the audience needed medical treatment. This time, Trump seemed to have little control over the issue, standing silently as messages about “technical difficulties” and “complex operations” appeared on screens in the room.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump waits after the sound system goes out during a rally at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan, on October 18, 2024. Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters
Trump is famously sensitive to his image and the structure of his rallies, often making comments into a microphone or teleprompter. Early Friday morning, the hosts of “Fox & Friends” joked that President Trump likes to adjust the lighting when giving interviews.
The entourage was known to be traveling with multiple backup microphones (it’s unclear why they couldn’t find one right away on Friday) and carefully preparing flags to decorate the stage.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign used footage of that moment to send a message that the 78-year-old Trump may not have the will to become president again. “An exhausted Trump walks awkwardly in circles on stage after his microphone stops working,” wrote a post on X.
The crowd continued to cheer and chant as the delay dragged on. At one point, the crowd did a wave.
Finally, after almost 20 minutes, an aide brought Trump a working replacement microphone.
“I will not pay for this stupid company,” he said. “I won’t pay the bill. Then the story will be that President Trump didn’t pay the contractor’s bill.”
