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Donald Trump sparked further concern about his mental state on Saturday after making lewd remarks about the late golfer Arnold Palmer during a rally in Pennsylvania, straying from the usual political discourse just weeks before the election.
Trump’s comments about Palmer, which went on for over 10 minutes, were made at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport as the Republican nominee makes his final appeal to US voters in key battleground states that will determine the outcome of the White House race.
“When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said: ‘Oh my God, that’s unbelievable,’” Trump said, apparently alluding to Palmer’s genitalia. “We have women that are highly sophisticated here, but they used to look at Arnold.”
These off-color remarks are just the latest in a series of unconventional campaign appearances that have raised questions about Trump’s mental state as he campaigns for a second term as US president. Despite efforts by his Republican allies to steer him towards policy issues, Trump continues to go off-script.
At a recent town hall in Pennsylvania, he concluded the event by playing music for over 30 minutes and swaying on stage without speaking. His rhetoric has also taken a darker and more vulgar turn.
“You have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it any more. you’re a shit vice-president,” he said at the rally on Saturday, referring to his Democratic opponent.
Trump held his rally at the same time as Elon Musk, one of his key corporate supporters, was also in Pennsylvania for a separate event to campaign for the Republican candidate.
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During his visit, Musk pledged to donate $1 million every day until election day to randomly selected Pennsylvania voters who signed a petition through his Save America political action committee to defend free speech and the right to bear arms, a highly unconventional method of garnering support.
“One of the challenges we’re having is like, well, how do we get people to know about this petition? Because the legacy media won’t report on it,” Musk said.
Both Trump and Harris are working to sway undecided voters and ensure that their existing supporters show up to vote on November 5, as polls indicate a close race in crucial swing states and early voting begins in some states.
Harris campaigned in the battleground state of Georgia on Saturday and is set to travel to Pennsylvania on Sunday.