Kathrine Frich
Social media users wasted no time mocking the president’.
Campaign speeches rarely stick to the planned script.
Politicians often step up to the microphone to promote a colleague, only to wander into personal grievances along the way.
At a recent Southern rally, a routine political endorsement quickly turned into a complaint about prestigious awards.
Eyes on a prize
President Donald Trump travelled to Pendleton, South Carolina, on Wednesday to rally his Republican base at the T. Ed Garrison Arena, according to the Irish Star. The event was organised to help Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed by Governor Henry McMaster after her brother, Lindsey Graham, died in July at age 71.
Now she faces Representative Ralph Norman for the party nomination. Trump backed her campaign and recalled a story he shared in Myrtle Beach in August, noting that Lindsey Graham “respected Darline more than any other person he knows — including me!”
Between brushing off crowd hecklers and praising the candidate, the president complained about missing out on the Nobel Peace Prize, which he claimed he earned for stopping multiple wars. Then he shifted his focus to top journalism honours.
“I didn’t get the Nobel Prize. I didn’t get the Pulitzer. I should have gotten the Pulitzer for writing, too,” Trump told the audience, as reported by the Irish Star.
Harsh online reaction
Social media users wasted no time mocking the president’s literary ambitions. According to the Irish Star, one critic asked online: “A man who couldn’t write a children’s book thinks he deserves the Pulitzer?”
Another commenter took aim at his speaking style. They wrote: “Trump wants a Pulitzer for writing? The man treats the English language like a hostage and his sentences need a search party.”
On X, a third user cited by the Irish Star dismissed the outburst entirely: “As if he meant to say “Pulitzer”. The orange loon’s mind is mush and his attempts to save face are beyond ridiculous.”
The warm rally for the Graham family also marked a major turnaround from the 2016 Republican primaries, according to the Irish Star. After Lindsey Graham fiercely criticised him back then, Trump read out the senator’s private cell phone number, 202-280-2929, on stage, causing the phone to “exploded” with calls until the lawmaker gave up a number he had kept for 20 years.
