Donald Trump jokes about being shot as he meets couple whose son died in Afghanistan
Donald Trump has joked about being shot during a meeting with a couple whose serviceman son died in Afghanistan.
With just three weeks to go until the US election, the Republican presidential nominee continued on the campaign trail at a “town hall” event in Oaks, Pennsylvania.
On stage with South Dakota Republican governor Kristi Noem, he attempted to woo voters in the crucial swing state – which went Democrat in 2020.
Donald Trump and South Dakota governor Kristi Noem dance during a town hall campaign event in Oaks, Pennsylvania.
Pic: Reuters
Trump meeting Mary and Charles Strange.
Pic: AP
At one point, Ms Noem introduced Mary and Charles Strange, whose son Michael was killed on 6 August 2011 when a Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, killing 30 US soldiers and a service dog.
It became known as Extortion 17 and according to the Navy Seals Museum was “the greatest single loss of life to Naval Special Warfare [Command] since the Afghan War started in 2001”.
While the couple were being introduced and welcomed on stage, Mr Trump, having got off his seat, said: “It’s a little harder to get up since I got shot.
“It made it more difficult.
“Perhaps that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
To which Ms Noem, the event’s moderator, said: “Sir, they lost their son Michael.”
It was widely reported that during the attempt to assassinate him, Mr Trump’s ear was hit with a bullet.
Also during the town hall event, two people fainted, prompting Mr Trump to ask: “Would anyone else like to faint? Please raise your hand.”
Ms Noem said it happened because of how hot the room was, to which Mr Trump replied: “Personally I enjoy this… you lose weight.”
After reassuring the crowd that the two people who had fainted were fine, he then went on to ask if Ave Maria, sung by Luciano Pavarotti, could be played.
Mr Trump had asked for it to be played as the first person was attended to, roughly half an hour into the event, and it was then played again after the second incident as he stood on stage with Ms Noem waiting silently alongside him.
The former president cut short the question and answer session of the town hall, which was from preselected attendees, and proceeded to play music for 39 minutes.
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During this time, he swayed and danced to the music, including the popular track Y.M.C.A, occasionally stopping to talk to members of the crowd.
AP reported that Mr Trump’s playlist of songs included Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U, Rufus Wainwright’s cover of Hallelujah, Guns N’ Roses’ November Rain and Memory from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats.
His campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote on social media: “Nobody wanted to leave and wanted to hear more songs from the famous DJT Spotify playlist!”
Three weeks out
It comes as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris continues to lead Mr Trump in nationwide polls, but questions remain over whether this will transfer into an election win.
Due to the nature of the US election, much of it relies on a few million voters in several key swing states, including Pennsylvania.
Democratic presidential nominee vice president Kamala Harris on stage during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Pic: AP
The outcome remains a virtual coin toss as both candidates are hoping to draw out a definitive lead in the final weeks.
The Real Clear Politics website puts Mr Trump an average of 0.3 points ahead of Ms Harris in Pennsylvania and in the top battleground states – which will decide the election – Mr Trump is fractionally ahead in most.
Ms Harris recently rolled out former president Barack Obama, still one of the Democrats’ most effective political communicators, to attack her rival, as another former president, Bill Clinton, also hit the campaign trail in Georgia.
Police officers found a handgun, a silencer and a red notebook described as a “manifesto” when they arrested Luigi Mangione.
The 27-year-old was arrested in December 2024 and charged with killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York City.
Mangione‘s lawyers want to block prosecutors from showing or telling jurors at his eventual trial in Manhattan about statements he allegedly made and items they said police seized from his backpack during his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
The objects include a 9mm handgun prosecutors say matches the one used in the killing, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear and a notebook in which they say Mangione described his intent to “wack” a healthcare executive.
Mangione with his attorney. Pic: Reuters
The defence contends the items should be excluded because police did not get a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.
Prosecutors deny claims Mangione was illegally searched and questioned.
They also want to suppress some statements he made to police, such as allegedly giving a false name, because officers asked him questions before telling him he had a right to remain silent.
Last week, Mangione watched surveillance videos of the killing of Mr Thompson, 50, as he walked to a New York City hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges.
The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
This week’s hearing concerns only the state case, but Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases.
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In September, a judge dismissed two terrorism counts against Mangione, finding prosecutors had not presented enough evidence Mangione intended to intimidate health insurance workers or influence government policy.
Trial dates are yet to be set in either the state or federal cases.
Paramount has launched a £108.4bn hostile bid for Warner Bros, challenging Netflix, which had reached a $72bn takeover deal with the company.
Paramount said on Monday that it was going straight to Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shareholders with a $30 per share in cash offer for the entirety of the company, including its Global Networks segment, asking them to reject the deal with Netflix.
On Friday Netflix struck a deal to buy WBD, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max
The agreement means Warner Bros Discovery’s library of film and TV successes including Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones will come under the same roof as Stranger Things and Squid Game.
The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt.
But Paramount says its deal will pay $30 cash per share, representing $18 billion more in cash than its rivals are offering.
In a statement, Paramount said it was making a “strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders” and a “superior alternative to the Netflix transaction”.
File pic: iStock
David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said: “WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company.
“Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.
“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process.
“We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”
Paramount said it had submitted six proposals to WBD in the course of 12 weeks, but that they were never “meaningfully” engaged with.
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