Trump revisits his complaints in his final pitch
As Election Day approaches, Trump exhibited his most aggrieved and discursive self on Sunday.
TroibNews 
LITITZ, Pennsylvania — Donald Trump raged through Sunday, seemingly unrestrained and targeting anyone in his path.
He admitted he “shouldn’t have left” the White House in January 2020, an extraordinary comment from a former president whose efforts to maintain power culminated in a violent Capitol riot. He expressed that he wouldn’t “mind” if someone needed to “shoot through the fake news” to reach him, escalating his already controversial rhetoric, prompting his team to swiftly clarify his remarks.
Trump fueled concerns about a rigged election in a county where some voter-registration applications are still under investigation for potential fraud, while denouncing “crooked” polls showing unfavorable trends for his campaign.
This was just one rally on the penultimate day of his campaign trail.
He displayed a particularly aggrieved demeanor, occasionally veering significantly from his teleprompter script. This provided insight into the former president's mindset in the closing days of a two-year effort to reclaim the White House, which he continues to falsely believe was stolen from him.
While he shifted to a more subdued yet still meandering campaign speech at his next rally in North Carolina, his remarks from Lititz continued to generate buzz online.
“It is everything a Republican does not want to hear and everything that Donald Trump and his base wants to hear,” remarked Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump administration official. “Part of the reason why he’s running is his grievances, and it should be no surprise that that’s almost becoming his closing statement.”
Recent events suggest this is indeed his closing argument — and strategy.
Trump diverged from his prepared remarks shortly after stepping on stage more than an hour late Sunday morning at the Lancaster Airport in central Pennsylvania. He pointed out that prolonged ballot counting could lead to fraud, echoing his unfounded 2020 claims rejected in court. He accused his opponents of scheming to cheat in the election without providing evidence and labeled Democrats as “demonic,” dismissing Vice President Kamala Harris as merely a “vessel” for the party.
As he discussed the enhanced security measures at his rallies following attempts on his life, he highlighted the ballistic glass surrounding him, stating: “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news.” He added: “I don’t mind that so much.”
Following his comments, his campaign hurriedly issued a statement asserting that Trump did not wish harm upon the media. Spokesperson Steven Cheung insisted that Trump was simply discussing the assassination attempts on him, and that his remark regarding “protective glass placement has nothing to do with the Media being harmed, or anything else.” Cheung contended Trump was implying that the media itself was at risk and “should have had a glass protective shield, also.”
While criticizing Democrats on border security, Trump expressed regret about leaving the White House in 2021, reinforcing his false narrative of winning the 2020 election. “We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left. I shouldn’t have left,” he asserted.
He also propagated misinformation about election-related issues in Pennsylvania, where he and his supporters are laying the groundwork to challenge the election results. Trump claimed fraudulent ballots had been discovered in Lancaster County while officials stated they were investigating potentially fraudulent voter-registration forms. He alleged Democrats were seeking ways to "cheat," expressed frustration that “we’re in court all the time” in Pennsylvania with judges “not particularly friendly” to his challenges, and lamented that those raising concerns about election processes, including himself, were labeled as “conspiracy theorists.” “It’s a damn shame,” he remarked.
By the time he arrived in North Carolina, he seemed occasionally disoriented, both about his location and his message. Speaking to supporters in Kinston — two hours late to the stage — he mistakenly claimed Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick was present. “We have great Republicans running, and you have one of the best of all right here, David McCormick,” he said. “David is here around some place, you know, we just left him. He’s a great guy.”
He also narrated an absurd tale involving the late Al Capone and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell dining together, suggesting Lindell would have faced dire consequences if Capone didn't like his pillows. “If he didn’t sleep well because he didn’t like Mike’s pillows, Mike had almost no chance of living,” Trump humorously recounted. “He would dispose of Mike somewhere in a foundation of a building or something. You would never see Mike again. Mike does not want to have dinner with Scarface.”
Even the crowd in Kinston seemed puzzled at times, responding primarily with enthusiasm when he returned to his scripted policy speech. Trump’s voice appeared strained after a grueling schedule of speeches during the final stretch.
These tirades came on the heels of a series of recent polls presenting mixed messages for him. The final Des Moines Register survey by respected pollster J. Ann Selzer showed Trump trailing by 3 percentage points in Iowa, a state he once dominated. The poll also indicated Harris maintaining a substantial lead among women and seniors, demographics he has struggled with historically.
In contrast, the latest New York Times/Siena College battleground surveys indicated Trump leading in Arizona and Michigan, tied with Harris in Pennsylvania, but trailing in Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina — a state he was focusing on more than ever in this critical final weekend.
Trump's campaign dismissed the Iowa poll as an “outlier” and accused the New York Times of promoting a “voter suppression narrative” against his supporters. He criticized “one of my enemies” for releasing the Iowa poll, insisting he’s “not down” in the state, and labeled polling in general as “corrupt.”
Supporters in the Pennsylvania crowd expressed disbelief over polls suggesting he was tied with Harris. They claimed, based on crowd sizes at his rallies, that Trump would win the state, attributing any empty spaces at his event to scheduling conflicts with church services.
Trump openly acknowledged and seemed to take pleasure in his tendency to stray from script during his Pennsylvania rally. “I love being off these stupid teleprompters, because the truth comes out,” he stated at one moment.
He even tried to preemptively counter media criticisms of his “rambling” by urging supporters to label his speech as “brilliant.” “please,” he added.
Aarav Patel for TROIB News
He admitted he “shouldn’t have left” the White House in January 2020, an extraordinary comment from a former president whose efforts to maintain power culminated in a violent Capitol riot. He expressed that he wouldn’t “mind” if someone needed to “shoot through the fake news” to reach him, escalating his already controversial rhetoric, prompting his team to swiftly clarify his remarks.
Trump fueled concerns about a rigged election in a county where some voter-registration applications are still under investigation for potential fraud, while denouncing “crooked” polls showing unfavorable trends for his campaign.
This was just one rally on the penultimate day of his campaign trail.
He displayed a particularly aggrieved demeanor, occasionally veering significantly from his teleprompter script. This provided insight into the former president's mindset in the closing days of a two-year effort to reclaim the White House, which he continues to falsely believe was stolen from him.
While he shifted to a more subdued yet still meandering campaign speech at his next rally in North Carolina, his remarks from Lititz continued to generate buzz online.
“It is everything a Republican does not want to hear and everything that Donald Trump and his base wants to hear,” remarked Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump administration official. “Part of the reason why he’s running is his grievances, and it should be no surprise that that’s almost becoming his closing statement.”
Recent events suggest this is indeed his closing argument — and strategy.
Trump diverged from his prepared remarks shortly after stepping on stage more than an hour late Sunday morning at the Lancaster Airport in central Pennsylvania. He pointed out that prolonged ballot counting could lead to fraud, echoing his unfounded 2020 claims rejected in court. He accused his opponents of scheming to cheat in the election without providing evidence and labeled Democrats as “demonic,” dismissing Vice President Kamala Harris as merely a “vessel” for the party.
As he discussed the enhanced security measures at his rallies following attempts on his life, he highlighted the ballistic glass surrounding him, stating: “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news.” He added: “I don’t mind that so much.”
Following his comments, his campaign hurriedly issued a statement asserting that Trump did not wish harm upon the media. Spokesperson Steven Cheung insisted that Trump was simply discussing the assassination attempts on him, and that his remark regarding “protective glass placement has nothing to do with the Media being harmed, or anything else.” Cheung contended Trump was implying that the media itself was at risk and “should have had a glass protective shield, also.”
While criticizing Democrats on border security, Trump expressed regret about leaving the White House in 2021, reinforcing his false narrative of winning the 2020 election. “We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left. I shouldn’t have left,” he asserted.
He also propagated misinformation about election-related issues in Pennsylvania, where he and his supporters are laying the groundwork to challenge the election results. Trump claimed fraudulent ballots had been discovered in Lancaster County while officials stated they were investigating potentially fraudulent voter-registration forms. He alleged Democrats were seeking ways to "cheat," expressed frustration that “we’re in court all the time” in Pennsylvania with judges “not particularly friendly” to his challenges, and lamented that those raising concerns about election processes, including himself, were labeled as “conspiracy theorists.” “It’s a damn shame,” he remarked.
By the time he arrived in North Carolina, he seemed occasionally disoriented, both about his location and his message. Speaking to supporters in Kinston — two hours late to the stage — he mistakenly claimed Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick was present. “We have great Republicans running, and you have one of the best of all right here, David McCormick,” he said. “David is here around some place, you know, we just left him. He’s a great guy.”
He also narrated an absurd tale involving the late Al Capone and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell dining together, suggesting Lindell would have faced dire consequences if Capone didn't like his pillows. “If he didn’t sleep well because he didn’t like Mike’s pillows, Mike had almost no chance of living,” Trump humorously recounted. “He would dispose of Mike somewhere in a foundation of a building or something. You would never see Mike again. Mike does not want to have dinner with Scarface.”
Even the crowd in Kinston seemed puzzled at times, responding primarily with enthusiasm when he returned to his scripted policy speech. Trump’s voice appeared strained after a grueling schedule of speeches during the final stretch.
These tirades came on the heels of a series of recent polls presenting mixed messages for him. The final Des Moines Register survey by respected pollster J. Ann Selzer showed Trump trailing by 3 percentage points in Iowa, a state he once dominated. The poll also indicated Harris maintaining a substantial lead among women and seniors, demographics he has struggled with historically.
In contrast, the latest New York Times/Siena College battleground surveys indicated Trump leading in Arizona and Michigan, tied with Harris in Pennsylvania, but trailing in Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina — a state he was focusing on more than ever in this critical final weekend.
Trump's campaign dismissed the Iowa poll as an “outlier” and accused the New York Times of promoting a “voter suppression narrative” against his supporters. He criticized “one of my enemies” for releasing the Iowa poll, insisting he’s “not down” in the state, and labeled polling in general as “corrupt.”
Supporters in the Pennsylvania crowd expressed disbelief over polls suggesting he was tied with Harris. They claimed, based on crowd sizes at his rallies, that Trump would win the state, attributing any empty spaces at his event to scheduling conflicts with church services.
Trump openly acknowledged and seemed to take pleasure in his tendency to stray from script during his Pennsylvania rally. “I love being off these stupid teleprompters, because the truth comes out,” he stated at one moment.
He even tried to preemptively counter media criticisms of his “rambling” by urging supporters to label his speech as “brilliant.” “please,” he added.
Aarav Patel for TROIB News
