After Donald Trump won the Republican primary in South Carolina on Saturday, he did what any presidential front-runner would do — he gloated in his chief rival’s loss and hit the campaign trail. Specifically, the Trump bandwagon went west to Atlanta for a political rally on Sunday afternoon. That’s when a supposed protester took action and decided to turn the lights out on the New York real estate mogul’s highly successful bid for the 2016 Republican nomination. Literally.
Midway through a rant about overcrowding in American jails, someone shut the venue’s lights off — blanketing Trump and the crowd in near darkness. He immediately joked that the place hadn’t paid their electric bill, then proceeded to go on about how much he preferred the low-lit room (at the expense of the press covering the rally).
“Oh, I like that much better. That’s so much better. Those lights were brutal. Are they coming from the dishonest press?”
The supporters in attendance enjoyed the joke, as well as the Donald’s extended riff on the turning off of the “brutal” lights. Especially when the astute businessman threatened that he wouldn’t pay the rent because the main lights were no longer working. Seconds later, the staff were able to turn everything back on, but Trump wasn’t having it, so he led the crowd in a rather interesting chant.
“No! Get those lights off! Off! They’re too bright, turn them off… Ready? Turn off the lights! Turn off the lights! Turn off the lights!”
Following the three-way exchange between Trump, the attendees and the venue staff, the former suggested that the ensuing “negotiation” and its “success” were precisely why he should become the next President of the United States. Because, as he phrased it, “That’s the way we have to negotiate for our country.” Or to put it another way, by mob rule.
Trump later told the crowd that according to the staff, a protester had initially turned off the lights. However, this was never confirmed with the press.