Despite international crises in Hong Kong and India, signs of a coming recession and urgent demands for stricter gun laws, President Donald Trump took time out of his day to call out a supporter who he mistakenly threw out of a rally in New Hampshire Thursday.
Trump on protestor removed from rally: "That guy's got a serious weight problem. Go home, start exercising." pic.twitter.com/0nZGnbzAXD
— Axios (@axios) August 16, 2019
The situation kicked off during a rambling and incoherent speech Trump gave in Manchester as he campaigns for reelection next year. Protesters from the Jewish activist group IfNotNow held up banners criticizing Trump, igniting a fight between their group and Trump supporters.
Frank Dawson was one of the Trump supporters who attacked the protesters, grabbing their signs and throwing them off of the balcony. Trump only caught a glimpse of the fight after security had removed the protesters.
“That guy’s got a serious weight problem,” Trump said. “Go home. Start exercising. Get him out of here.”
Security escorted Dawson out of the arena, but he later spoke to Fox News about the incident and said he was honored to even be pointed out by the president.
Dawson laughed about the incident with Fox News and joyously retold the story to a large crowd around him.
"Everything’s good! I love the guy! He’s the best thing that ever happened to this country," he said.
It seems that @realDonaldTrump called Frank Dawson, the fan who he mistakenly identified as an overweight protester. @foxandfriends will have Dawson on tomorrow. He told Fox last night: "Everything’s good! I love the guy! He’s the best thing that ever happened to this country."
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) August 16, 2019
Trump realized his mistake from Fox News and got a White House aide to contact Dawson. He called Dawson from Air Force One but got no answer, so he left a voicemail.
Correction: Trump did not apologize, a White House official tells me. He phoned the supporter, left him a message thanking him for his support, but did not use the words "sorry" or "apologize." https://t.co/0G32RSHI1G
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 16, 2019
The voicemail set off a flurry of hilarious tweets imagining what Trump might have said to Dawson.
Reporters later confirmed that Trump did not apologize for throwing him out.