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President Donald Trump turned a microphone problem into a comic riff during remarks at The Villages in Florida, asking staff to “turn the mic up please” before joking he was “screaming my a– off because the mic is no good.”
The moment came during a wide-ranging, joke-heavy speech before the Florida retirement community, where Trump bounced between policy remarks, crowd work and off-the-cuff riffs, and, at one point, quipping, “What’s more secure than The Villages?” as he played to the audience.
Trump first flagged the audio issue while discussing immigration and inflation under former President Joe Biden.
“Tell them to turn up the microphone,” Trump said. “Will you please turn up the mic?”
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“You pay these guys a lot of money, and then you get up, and the mic isn’t on properly. And then they want their money,” he continued. “And I don’t believe in paying people to do a bad job.
“I’m screaming my a– off because the mic is no good,” he added. “Turn the mic up please.”
Trump opened the speech by joking about why he chose to appear at The Villages despite recent security concerns after the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner shooting Saturday night.
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“They say on my life I should be indoors at a secure facility where I can quietly, beautifully and safely play out my term,” Trump said. “I said, what’s more secure than The Villages?”
He also praised the Florida community as “the single largest community of seniors anywhere in the world,” before joking about the size of the overflow crowd.
“They have an overflow room that’s bigger than this,” Trump said. “Why the h— didn’t I go there? To start off.”
He repeatedly teased the crowd about age while arguing his administration had delivered for seniors.
“I don’t happen to be a senior,” Trump said. “I’m much younger than you. I’m a much younger man than you. Look at you old guys.
“But I feel I can relate to you anyway.”
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Trump also singled out his regular rally supporters near the stage, calling them “front row Joes.”
“They’re all over. I can’t get rid of them,” Trump said. “They are sick individuals, but we love them.”
At another point, Trump defended what he calls “the weave,” his term for jumping between topics mid-speech.
“I love the weave because the weave is great,” Trump said. “Someday, I won’t come back, and they’ll say, ‘all right, he shot.’ That’s the weave. I call it the weave because you get a lot of stories into one little sentence.”
Trump later joked about traveling with Dr. Mehmet Oz while discussing Medicare and Medicaid.
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“We have a man here who knows more about Medicaid, Medicare, medical crap than any human being,” Trump said.
“It’s the most boring trip I’ve ever made,” he added. “He’s telling me about Medicare, Medicaid. All I want to do is take care of you. I don’t care, I said, ‘You work out the details.'”
While discussing prescription drug costs, Trump also recounted a conversation with what he described as a wealthy friend seeking cheaper weight loss medication overseas.
“He called it the fat shot,” Trump said. “I’ve given it that name, the fat shot.”
The microphone complaint was ultimately one of several unscripted moments as Trump moved between policy and personal banter, delivering a speech that, at times, resembled a stand-up-style riff more than a traditional political address.
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