A gravelly-voiced former President Donald Trump, showing strain from nonstop campaign stops and rallies over the past few months, began to finish out his 2024 presidential campaign at a Pennsylvania rally — and his comments about protective glass that had the mainstream media losing their minds.
“I have this glass here. But all we have really over here is the fake news,” Trump said at the Lancaster Airport event, his voice noticeably hoarse. “And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news, and I don’t mind that so much.”
The former president, speaking for more than 90 minutes and often departing from his teleprompter, strained against a hoarse voice as he addressed the outdoor crowd.
“Everything we’ve been fighting for nine years come down to the next two days,” Trump said, his voice rough from consecutive days of campaigning.
“It’s now or never. This is it. We’ve been waiting nine years for this. I have three or four rallies today. I have four tomorrow.”
Both candidates enter the final day of campaigning focusing on Pennsylvania’s crucial 19 electoral votes.
Harris will appear with celebrities including Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey, and Katy Perry in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Trump, despite his vocal fatigue, has scheduled rallies in Reading and Pittsburgh before closing in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
His campaign responded to media criticism of his remarks by citing the near assassination of the 45th president just a few months ago.
“President Trump was brilliantly talking about the two assassination attempts on his own life, including one that came within 1/4 of an inch from killing him, something that the Media constantly talks and jokes about,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said.
“The President’s statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the Media being harmed, or anything else. It was about threats against him that were spurred on by dangerous rhetoric from Democrats. In fact, President Trump was stating that the Media was in danger, in that they were protecting him and, therefore, were in great danger themselves, and should have had a glass protective shield, also. There can be no other interpretation of what was said. He was actually looking out for their welfare, far more than his own!”
After 6 rallies in 36 hours, Trump is starting to lose his voice.
And he will do 4 more rallies on Monday.pic.twitter.com/hcYV8Hn8si
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) November 4, 2024
The Harris campaign cited recent gains in swing states, with the New York Times/Siena College poll showing their candidate leading in Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Georgia.