The media is having a feeding frenzy over some bizarre off-the-cuff remarks Donald Trump made Tuesday morning regarding a baby crying during his campaign rally in Ashburn, Virginia. When the baby first started crying, Trump gushed about how much he loved babies. Later on, when he heard the baby still crying, he said that he was just kidding. “You can get the baby out of here,” he joked to laughter and applause. It was a classic Trumpian moment. Rather than behave like a normal politician and ignore the distraction, he put on his court jester hat and played to the crowd. He wanted laughs and he got laughs.
Here’s how Politico reported the incident: “Trump boots baby from Virginia rally”:
The GOP nominee initially suggested that he did not mind the disruption.
“Don’t worry about that baby. I love babies,” Trump said after hearing the baby crying during an aside about the trade imbalance. “Don’t worry about it. I love babies. I hear that baby crying, I like it. What a baby. What a beautiful baby. Don’t worry, don’t worry. The mom’s running around like—don’t worry about it, you know. It’s young and beautiful and healthy and that’s what we want.”
Trump then returned to his non-baby-related remarks, only to hear the baby make more noise.
“They have ripped us to shreds, ripped us absolutely to shreds,” Trump said of China, before turning back to the woman with the child.
“Actually, I was only kidding, you can get the baby out of here,” the Republican nominee said to laughter and applause. “That’s all right. Don’t worry. I, I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I’m speaking. That’s OK. People don’t understand. That’s OK.”
According to the AP, Trump then “seemed to suggest” that he was just kidding and the baby could stay. The child stopped crying soon afterward.
Via Twitchy, here are some other overwrought media reactions:
So Trump asks a mother to take her crying baby out of his rally. I am not kidding. https://t.co/cgtIUPkLcK @Rosie @Alyssa_Milano
— SamTheMailman (@SamTheMailman) August 2, 2016
Donald Trump Lashes Out at a Crying Baby https://t.co/s4nYEaRJnA — Mother Jones (@MotherJones) August 2, 2016
WATCH: Trump says doesn’t mind baby crying at rally, then: “I was only kidding. You can get the baby out of here.” https://t.co/FBwILq8UTT
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) August 2, 2016
Trump: Get that baby outta here. pic.twitter.com/TKRQEJySyo — Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) August 2, 2016
I’m four hours late on this but hadn’t seen the clip until now: https://t.co/ozUUScDpH7 WE HAVE FOUND HIS KRYPTONITE!!!!!
— jason polan (@polan) August 2, 2016
Trump vs crying baby, via @NPR. #NotTheOnion https://t.co/2GliIdHf7c — IL Public Media (@willpublicmedia) August 2, 2016
As a baby cried, Trump shifted from “I love babies” to “I was only kidding, you can get that baby out of here” https://t.co/csYLSBUFM5
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 2, 2016
Easily the most un-self-aware tweets came from Planned Parenthood and NARAL:
Add babies to the list of people @realDonaldTrump would kick out of his campaign rallies. https://t.co/UaqVpv35bd
— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) August 2, 2016
.@realDonaldTrump just kicked a mom and a baby out of a rally in #VA. Yep, seriously. https://t.co/ak5z708atM#WontVoteTrump
— NARAL (@NARAL) August 2, 2016
This guy had the perfect response:
@PPact@realDonaldTrump Guess you guys missed one.
— Jeremy Lott (@jeremylottdiary) August 2, 2016
USA Today is one of the only media outlets that reported that Trump was only kidding, and that the mother and child were not actually thrown out. Most media outlets reported that they were.
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