A CNN political correspondent struggled to hold back his laughter after former US President Donald Trump shared an awkward anecdote about golf legend Arnold Palmer at a Make America Great Again rally in Pittsburgh.
“Arnold Palmer was all man. And I say that with all due respect to women. And I love women. But this guy, this guy. This is a guy that was all man,” Donald Trump told the crowd in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Trump then spent 12 minutes praising Palmer and recounting how fellow golfers were left in awe after showering with the Latrobe native. “When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there. They said, ‘Oh my God! That's unbelievable.'"
CNN's Steve Contorno, reporting on the event, struggled to keep a straight face while covering the unusual story live. “I'm not making this up,” Contorno said, as he recapped Trump's unexpected remarks.
“Trump's campaign is telling us that tonight's appearance is the beginning of his closing argument to voters for the upcoming election,” Contorno said. “And that closing argument began rather... interestingly.”
Trying to hold back laughter, he went on, “He started with a long-winded story about Latrobe, Pennsylvania native Arnold Palmer, including – and I'm not making this up – a description of the Hall of Fame golfer in the men's room, in the locker room, and what he looked like in the shower!”
The reporter's attempt to swiftly move on from the anecdote was evident. He transitioned to more typical rally talking points.
During his campaign in Pennsylvania, the Republican presidential nominee further shocked his audience with a series of crude and vulgar comments aimed at his Democratic counterpart Kamala Harris. “Such a horrible four years,” Trump said, referring to the Biden-Harris administration.
Despite the unusual tone of the rally, Trump's team stressed that the event was meant to mark the start of his final push to win over voters in the key swing state before the election.
