President Donald Trump fat-shamed one of his own supporters at a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, after mistakenly believing them to be a protester.
A group of protesters had been demonstrating at the rally at the Southern New Hampshire University Arena, before being removed by security. Noticing the commotion, President Trump proceeded to insult a man he believed to be one of the protesters, focusing on his ‘weight problem’.
However, he didn’t realise the man he was fat-shaming was actually one of his very own supporters, an individual who had reportedly been flagging the protesters to security.
Pausing on the podium during his speech, President Trump made the following remarks before a cheering crowd of MAGA supporters:
That guy has got a serious weight problem. Go home, start exercising. Get him out of here please.
Got a bigger problem than I do. Got a bigger problem than all of us. Now he goes home and his mom says, ‘What the hell have you just done?
However, the man President Trump had taken aim at – Frank Dawson – wasn’t actually a heckler. Indeed, it appears he had actually been defending the president against his naysayers; ripping up the anti-Trump signs they had been holding up.
Luckily, it would appear Dawson hasn’t taken the President’s personal remarks to heart, and remains an avowed Trumpster.
Speaking with Fox News, Dawson – who has previously worked in law enforcement and the military – said:
Everything’s good! I love the guy!
He’s the best thing that ever happened to this country.
Speaking of the President’s error, Dawson said:
He didn’t see me ripping the signs away from those three people that were sitting near us.
And they were trying to cause a ruckus, and they jumped up and they started yelling stuff, that I don’t even care what they were yelling about, that wasn’t going to happen beside me because I’m trying to listen to my president.
But I think he thought I was part of it, but I wasn’t. I was the good part of it.
According to a tweet from CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins, President Trump has since called Dawson and left an apologetic voicemail:
President Trump called and left a voicemail apologizing to the man he mocked as overweight, a White House official says. He confused him for a protester last night in New Hampshire. “That guy’s got a serious weight problem,” Trump said. “Go home. Start exercising.”
Moments after President Trump mocked Dawson’s body, he went on to describe his campaign movement as being ‘built on love’.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.