The Washington Post Covered That Bizarro Trump Rally the Right Way

At a town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Monday night, Trump was expected to engage with preselected attendees and answer their questions. Instead, after two individuals required medical attention, he took an unexpected turn. “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into a music. Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?” he said.

And just like that, a political town hall morphed into a 39-minute personal jam session. Trump played nine tracks from his self-curated playlist, swayed onstage, and even invited the crowd to join in. LeVine captured the surreal scene perfectly:

For 39 minutes, Trump swayed, bopped—sometimes stopping to speak—as he turned the event into almost a living-room listening session of his favorite songs from his self-curated rally playlist.

This wasn’t a charming detour or a moment of levity; it was a bewildering departure from the friendly campaign event (while it was billed as a town hall, the preselected questions and the fawning interviewer, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, made clear that he wasn’t there to be challenged). With the election just weeks away, one would expect a candidate to seize every opportunity to address voters’ concerns. Instead, Trump chose to play DJ, leaving many in the crowd puzzled. Some attendees began to leave, while others looked around, unsure of how to react.