Donald Trump resorted to a 'your mum' joke during a rally in Texas that was disrupted by protesters. The 80-year-old president was speaking at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio on Wednesday in support of Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton when a handful of demonstrators derailed his speech.
Trump, who has visited Texas three times in less than a month, is currently trying to stave off recent Democratic victories in the predominantly red state. Midway through his speech, at least half a dozen demonstrators heckled the president before being led away by police.
Protesters removed from venue
At one point, one protester was reportedly physically assaulted by an older Trump supporter as he tried to leave the arena, with MAGA fans chanting 'USA! USA!'. Despite the pandemonium, the president cracked a mum joke.
'Is there anything like a Trump rally?' the president said, before telling the crowd that one of the demonstrators was 'going back home to mum.' 'Because what he doesn't know is that his mum voted for Trump,' he said.
Trump then said of the protester: 'That guy's got to lose a lot of weight. You know, I never really talk about looks of a person, but those are really bad looking people, you have to say,' as the protesters continued to be removed from the auditorium.
Claims of paid protesters
Following the incident, Trump claimed that 'many of these protesters are paid by enemies of our nation,' but that his supporters shouldn't 'worry about it.' He warned: 'If there are any more paid protesters, please raise your hand and get the hell out of here.'
Elsewhere in the speech, Trump mocked Paxton's opponent, Democratic state representative James Talarico. The president alleged that Talarico is vegan, a diet the Democrat has consistently denied, and one that could be problematic in a leading cattle-raising state like Texas.
Vegan jibes and LGBTQ+ comments
Trump told the crowd he once pronounced the word wrong: 'You know, my wife told me "sir, you have to do me a favour — it's not vay-gan, it's vee-gan".' Referring to Talarico, whom he repeatedly called 'Tala-freako,' he rambled: 'Now he says he loves meat, but he's a vegan — see, Melania? I got that right. He's sick because he's been forced to eat meat for political reasons and he's throwing up all over the place.'
Trump also spread vitriol toward the LGBTQ+ community, saying: 'The people of Texas are not going to let weak, gutless, self-hating, transgender-promoting freak shows destroy everything that we've built.'
Outside the venue, a crowd of demonstrators held signs reading 'ICE out of San Antonio' and 'Trump is the WORST President EVER,' among others. Others chanted: 'Donald Trump, go back home, San Antonio is ours alone.'
