Donald Trumpโsย campaign suggested he would begin previewing his closing argument Saturday night withย Election Dayย barely two weeks away. But the former president kicked off his rally with a detailed story aboutย Arnold Palmer, at one point even praising the late, legendary golferโs genitalia.
Trump was campaigning in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where Palmer was born in 1929 and learned to golf from his father, who suffered from polio and was head pro and greenskeeper at the local country club.
Politicians saluting Palmer in his hometown is nothing new. But Trump spent 12 full minutes doing so at the top of his speech and even suggested how much more fun the night would be if Palmer, who died in 2016, could join him on stage.
โArnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women,โ Trump said. โThis is a guy that was all man.โ
Then he went even further.
โWhen he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, โOh my God. Thatโs unbelievable,โโ Trump said with a laugh. โI had to say. We have women that are highly sophisticated here, but they used to look at Arnold as a man.โ
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters before the speech that Trump planned to preview his closing argument against Vice Presidentย Kamala Harrisย and โstart to get into that framing.โ Candidates have traditionally used their final days on the campaign trail to sum up for the electorate why they deserve to win the White House.
Trump eventually hit many of his favorite campaign themes but didnโt offer much in the way of new framing of the race or why he should win it. He instead boasted of creating strong tax policies and a strong military during his first term in office.
He slammed Harris as โcrazyโ and added a profanity.
โYou have to tell Kamala Harris that youโve had enough, that you just canโt take it anymore, we canโt stand you anymore, youโre a sโ vice president,โ Trump said to roars of the crowd. โThe worst. Youโre the worst vice president. Kamala, youโre fired. Get the hell out of here.โ
He also criticized Harris for suggesting during her unsuccessful run for president in 2020 that sheโd support aย ban on hydraulic fracking, which is important to Pennsylvaniaโs economy and a position Harrisโ campaign says she no longer supports.
Trump invited on stage members of a local steelworkers union that endorsed him. He donned a construction hat with his name on it.
He also said Israeli Prime Ministerย Benjamin Netanyahuย called him amidย Israeliโs ongoing war with Hamasย in Gaza.
โHe said, โItโs incredible whatโs happened,โโ Trump said of the Netanyahu call before moving to a criticism of President Joe Biden, saying that the Israeli prime minister โwouldnโt listen to Biden.โ
Trump praised the raucous crowd, which was outside and at an airport, but also made a point of suggesting that there was more conspicuous security around him followingย two assassination attempts, saying, โThey give you a little extra security nowadays, you notice?โ
โI got more machine guns than Iโve ever seen — look at these guys,โ he said referring to security. He was interrupted by cries from the crowd of โUSA! USA!โ before continuing, โWeโve got more guys, and every one of them is like central casting too, holy sโ.โ
Then he tied it back to Latrobeโs native son, adding, โThey look like Arnold. Canโt look better than Arnold.โ